So this is a photo from my trip back to NH last month. I walked in a preserve that was loaded with Mountain Laurel and I ended up with many photos I really like including this one that proved challenging to edit. With that in mind I’m posting it here to see in what directions others might take this. It presents some technical as well as visual challenges that I think I handled well and produced something intriguing, but there is always latitude.
You may only download this file to demonstrate how you would process the image. The file is Copyright of the photographer, and you must delete the raw file when you are done. Please post a jpg of what you created, explain what you did, and why you did it.
Kristen, what a lovely image! Thanks for posting here; I enjoyed tinkering with it to see what additional directions it could go. I wanted to give it a bit of a fairy forest feeling, like I was stepping into a Narnia-like woods. So I went with some darkening, brightening, and softening to attempt that mood.
I opted to keep the color to highlight the contrast between the leaves and flowers. Plus, the green just looks fresh and inviting to me. Here’s what I did, all in LR Classic:
Denoise (69; not because it was noisy, but because I’m now in the habit)
Added a radial gradient to lighten up the path. I wanted that to draw me in and under the trees.
Took down the midtone luminance to -23
Boosted highlight luninance to 32
Green shifts: hue -17, saturation 12, luminance 24
Added a slight vignette around the edges to further emphasize the path
Then I cropped it to even further highlight the path and did the following overall adjustments:
Well now that is different and quite appropriate for the scene. I can never bring myself to desaturate greens much so this is a way I’d not have gone. Being in a wood dominated by Mountain laurel was magic around every bend. Thanks for having a go at it!
Well, almost a month since you posted - goes right along with how distant I’ve been last couple months… Hopefully this inspires me to get back in the game!
Lovely image Kris - you were certainly blessed with a great bloom given your images and descriptions.
I was also inspired by @Beth_Buelow interpretation. So to be honest, my interpretation is not that original because her version really struck a chord with me in terms of a dreamy, fairy forest interpretation. So I started with that concept or theme in mind. So went with a square crop to include more of the blossoms and nearly center the pathway. I didn’t copy my stack in PS, but very basic vignette, dodging/burning and I tweaked the green/yellow sat/hue slightly without going overboard, hopefully. But the big adjustment was adding the TK Orton effect layer with an opacity of about 40. If I was to continue working on it, I might reduce the contrast that came along with the Orton layer.
I do think Beth’s version actually created some depth - almost a 3-D look which I think is super effective. I don’t think mine has that. But here’s my interpretation.
Thanks for putting this out there for the challenge.
Thanks so much @Lon_Overacker, especially considering your limited available time. Are you still clawing your way to retirement? I have noticed your absence, but figured it was something like that. We all have our ebbs and flows.
Anyway…I like the square crop because for me it reinforces the look around the clock dial aspect that the sprays of flowers already have. Square crops do that for me in many landscapes. Beth’s treatment might have a smidge more depth, but her crop demands that because of the linear through-line she enhanced. This category is fun for showcasing exactly this kind of thing.
It’s also funny that I went B&W mostly because this was one of the last of my series that I processed. In some respects I went monochrome because I was “tired” of color with this kind of scene by this time, but also because there are some visual challenges in the landscape that I didn’t think leaving it in color would overcome. Both of your interpretations showed me that I was making a mountain out of a molehill. Thanks again!
Thanks Kris. Yeah, still working towards retirement - however, it seems that the day job is increasingly busy as I approach the timeline of sometime early next year - which isn’t very far away!
Thanks for posting this challenge. I’m a little late, but here’s my take. First, I like your B&W treatment and @Beth_Buelow’s crop so I combined them in my version. As. you know, I use Capture One, so I’ll just give general thoughts on what I did.
First, of course, were the usual exposure/contrast adjustments, then crop, then convert to B&W.
Then I did some minor healing, dodging, and burning. Finally, I added a touch of reverse clarity to get a bit of that soft glow to the scene…
Well now, that’s a very nice version @David_Bostock - I appreciate you taking the time. I especially like the treatment of the fallen flowers on the near part of the trail. Very cool. Hope you’re out enjoying life and photography.
This is a beautiful image Kris and I quite enjoyed having a go at it. Here is what I ended up doing:
In Lightroom:
I worked with the Highlights, Shadows, Whites and Blacks and cropped the image to a 4x5 aspect ratio. I also played around with the white balance and finally I moved the image into Photoshop.
The first thing I did in Photoshop was to add a (85) warming filter because even after my adjustments in LR I still felt that the image didn’t feel right.
Next using a lights luminosity mask and a levels adjustment I darkened down some of the really bright blooms.
Then I added a vignette.
Next, using the “Paint Contrast” tool in the TK9 panel I added some contrast mainly to the path in the middle but also to the big tree trunk to the right side.
Next I cloned out the blue trail marker and some small bright areas around the very edge of the image to keep the viewers eye from wandering to close to the edge.
Finally, I dodged the path and the left had side of the tree trunks a little bit more.
Thanks for lending your ideas and craft to this photo, @Tom_Nevesely - what you’ve done here is very realistic and yet somehow more polished than nature gives us. Takes me right back to dodging raindrops while walking this stunning path. I literally had to stop every few seconds as I came around each bend and this shows why very well.
Thank you Kristen for the opportunity to play with your wonderful photo.
Using Lightroom, first I darkened the overall picture. I darkened the sides and the bottom using linear gradients and added a little bit of blue tint. I used a large radial gradient and placed it in the background and warmed it up quite a bit to give a warm glow to the forest. I also added a smaller radial gradient at the end of the path to brighten it a bit. I then took a brush and added clarity, texture and dehaze and brushed the flowers. I took another brush and darkened the tree trunks at the edge of the path and I desaturated the orange to hopefully have less of a visual impact in the foreground and allow your eye to follow the path to the lighter background. I have yet to learn to have any self confidence in my photography, but I thank you for this opportunity to present my interpretation of your lovely photo.
Many thanks @Kathryn_Garlick - your interpretation is really lovely, darker and more mysterious than others, but still with an uplift of summer. Glad you had fun with it.
Confidence in one’s own work is a tough thing, but I hope you overcome that soon. Participating here can definitely help.
I find it interesting that your photo on my lightroom screen is much brighter and warmer than it shows on my screen in this website. I have not noticed that before and wonder why that would be?
