Sunset in the City

[Brownbear]

Thank you Mike. I didn't think this one would work because the buildings were so far away but I loved the sky. Your comment is encouraging and truly appreciated.

Manfred, A special thank you to you. I will play with this image some more and try a subtle vignette. Would you recommend increasing the saturation and also the vibrance? I will try it out.

[Manfred M]

Manfred, A special thank you to you. I will play with this image some more and try a subtle vignette. Would you recommend increasing the saturation and also the vibrance? I will try it out.

Christina - this is your image and it is up to you to present it in any way you see fit.

I will always play around with the various settings, step away from the image and then tweak as required. I work pretty well 100% using adjustment layers, so it is very easy to go back and make the adjustments over time. Adjustment layers automatically create masks, si I will (when needed) localize my adjustments to specific parts of the image.

[Brownbear]

Manfred,

Thank you for the words of advice.

Here is the edit... Saturation +45 Vibrancy +31 Clarity +24 Plus I increased the blues, reds and oranges in HSL... And I added a black vignette (2% fill)




And a cropped version for Kaye...



Honestly, I'm not sure which I prefer. The challenge I'm having is finding my vision/artistic self... Perhaps I will need to take a post processing sabbatical. I certainly have enough images to play with.

PS Binnur I checked my image and I used curves only on the buildings to lighten the shadows, and on the sky & water to decrease the highlights.

One last question. When I process this image in LR and opened in Photoshop the reds were clipped on both ends, but the clipping was not indicated in the historgram in LR in the final version... So I started over in ACR in Photoshop, same post processing in ACR.. And then when I open the image in Photoshop for curves and sharpening adjustment, the histogram is as it should be. I've seen this before and I find it to be odd.

Thank you!

[Mike Buckley]

The challenge I'm having is finding my vision/artistic self

I completely understand. That takes time and time is probably the only solution. However, rather than think of your vision as something that gets found, consider thinking of it as what it is today and that it gradually evolves or not.

Be aware that in these days of viewing pixels on a monitor, there is a tendency for the preferred style to be relatively intense. That's fine if that's what you want but it's also fine if you prefer, as an example, the tendency toward pastels in your first version.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Christina , I prefer the uncropped version of your last edit IMO it looks very nice and the saturated colors of the sky and the sea look more in harmony now. Why do you use LR ? , you have already use PS CC and you have ACR in it anyway.

[Brownbear]

Mike... Thank you for sharing and advising. Truly appreciated.

Binnur...

Thank you for letting me know your preference, and for your help and letting me know your preference.

I use LR because I like it and it is what I am used to. However, I do most of my editing in ACR in LR and since acquiring Photoshop I've learned that it is the same, just different looking. I use photoshop for curves and dust spots, and more recently learning layers and how to combine images. I like the way I can see my images in LR ie; the interface, so probably just my comfort zone, and my tendency to make things more complicated than they should be.

[Stagecoach]

Honestly, I'm not sure which I prefer. The challenge I'm having is finding my vision/artistic self...

I had the same problem Christina and still do with the colour treatment of sunrise and sunset pictures and found that there were so many variations I could do and others had so many opinions at first I got confused.

The way I look at it now is to concentrate on getting the best capture and IQ I can in camera and if anyone wants to buy the image they can have it in whatever colour they want

Grahame

[Brownbear]

Hi Grahame,

Thank you for sharing. Truly appreciated.

Yes, indeed the colour variations seem endless.

Sounds like great advice to me.

I had the same problem Christina and still do with the colour treatment of sunrise and sunset pictures and found that there were so many variations I could do and others had so many opinions at first I got confused.

The way I look at it now is to concentrate on getting the best capture and IQ I can in camera and if anyone wants to buy the image they can have it in whatever colour they want

Grahame

[Manfred M]

One last question. When I process this image in LR and opened in Photoshop the reds were clipped on both ends, but the clipping was not indicated in the historgram in LR in the final version... So I started over in ACR in Photoshop, same post processing in ACR.. And then when I open the image in Photoshop for curves and sharpening adjustment, the histogram is as it should be. I've seen this before and I find it to be odd.

The simple explanation is that you are working with RAW data, but the histograms are based on the jpeg you are displaying, so if you happen to have driven a particular colour to the point where they show as blown out or blocked, that's what the histogram will show. If you are working in 16-bit RAW and the conversion to a 8-bit jpeg likely plays a part in this issue.

You should also look at the colour spaces that you are using in each of the products, this could also be part of what is causing this issue (make sure your default colour spaces are set to be the same in Lightroom and ACR). If you are going straight to Photoshop from Lightroom, you will be fine as wll. The default colour space in Lightroom seems to be ProPhoto. I'm not sure what ACR / Photoshop do as I've been through so many upgrades...

Now, as to the colours, that is up to you. You apply the saturation slider a lot more vigorously than I do; I tend to ususally be in the 10 - 20 range, but then, I am doing a different image from yours.

[Brownbear]

Thank you Manfred.

I was working on raw image in LR. The histogram for the finished image was perfect. Then I right clicked open in Photoshop CC (for sharpening and curves). The histogram for the same image in Photoshop CC showed spikes in the red channel at both ends, and the file reads as a NEF file in Photoshop even though I was not in ACR. (I've experienced this before) So I opened the raw image in Photoshop CC (ACR) did the same processing, and the histogram was fine. I think this is odd.

I will review all my colour spaces. They should be sRGB in both but I have been told by others that they see it as Adobe RGB.

Now, as to the colours... I seem to remember someone advising me to let the artist in me run wild and be bold....

Thank you. I will figure it all out.

The simple explanation is that you are working with RAW data, but the histograms are based on the jpeg you are displaying, so if you happen to have driven a particular colour to the point where they show as blown out or blocked, that's what the histogram will show. If you are working in 16-bit RAW and the conversion to a 8-bit jpeg likely plays a part in this issue.

You should also look at the colour spaces that you are using in each of the products, this could also be part of what is causing this issue (make sure your default colour spaces are set to be the same in Lightroom and ACR). If you are going straight to Photoshop from Lightroom, you will be fine as wll. The default colour space in Lightroom seems to be ProPhoto. I'm not sure what ACR / Photoshop do as I've been through so many upgrades...

Now, as to the colours, that is up to you. You apply the saturation slider a lot more vigorously than I do; I tend to ususally be in the 10 - 20 range, but then, I am doing a different image from yours.

[Wavelength]

This is really great; personally i miss a frame though
Regards

[Kaye Leggett]

And a cropped version for Kaye...

Thank you. I like it but having seen your second version with the strong colours I like the uncropped as much.

[Brownbear]

Thank you Nandakumar and Kaye. Your comments are truly appreciated.

Nandakumar... No border because I think they make it harder for people to critique images. Nevertheless I will be posting an image that I actually love soon, and I will put a border on it and we will see what folks say.

Kaye it is nice to know that you like the uncropped version as much.

After viewing the images again I've decided my happy medium would be the first image with just a touch more colour. Part of the problem with this scene for me is it is one that I'm not a big fan of highrises, it was just the sky that captured my attention.

PS Grahame... I've thought about what you said, ie; you'll make it any colour someone wishes, say hot pink, and then that piece of yours lives forever more and you decide that you absolutely can't stand that image...

Thank you to everyone who replied to this thread. I've learned a lot from this image. Truly appreciated!