suggestions on how to improve a picture in PS?

Hello everyone,

I took a picture of a romantic place in Durham (England). You can see it here -- http://www.badongo.com/pic/5470867?size=original

I think there are things that can be done in Photoshop to improve this picture and do justice to the beautiful scene - for example, somehow accentuate the dramatism of the water reflections, or add lighting effects that can maybe compensate for the less-than-ideal time of the day when the picture was taken.

The first step would be to find the right cropping for the picture, my idea was something like this -- http://www.badongo.com/pic/5470940?size=original

Then, of course, a certain number of processing steps. I will try to put my rudimentary Photoshop skills to work and see what comes out, but I could really use and appreciate it if anyone would like to try their hand at this too. I want both to put this picture in a better light, and also get a tiny bit better at PS in the process. Some of the effects I had in mind are Light Source, Blur and PhotoFilter; and I'm sure there are a lot others that I don't know (or don't use creatively enough) that could be applied with nice results in this case. Once again, I'd be happy to receive any visual suggestions. Thanks in advance!

I played a little. I think I would keep your original crop. I brightened things up without losing the feeling, played with the sky a little, sharpened . . . let me know if you like, and I'll try and explain a little better what I did!

That looks nice, I'd be curious to know the steps that lead you there! I wouldn't mind a change that's even more surreal/painting-like, for this picture ....

I took a layering approach to this to try and build up the color and tone that existed/exists already. I made the mistake of using the smaller version -- because I didn't see there were larger ones available till it was already too late -- so that is why you are seeing blotches and perhaps some enhancement of JPG artifacts.

Essentially I used several techniques from my Layers book , which help coax out detail by manipulating contrast with layer modes and masking for some selective correction. Most of the selective correction had to do with isolating tone areas (highlights and shadows) to enhance contrast. The only object selection I did was for the bridge, which ended up being monochromatic with the tone of the rest of the image. Lightening it helps it stand out.

I hope that helps!

Richard Lynch

That looks great Richard, thanks! It would be a real challenge for me to replicate this in PS, but I'll give it a try when I have more time.