Lewiston, ID

[lovelife65]

While not a place I would want to live (ID in general) some unique desert like scenes. A little subdued due to fog.

Lewiston, ID by sharonkay finley, on Flickr

[Manfred M]

Nice image Sharon. I love the foggy look.

Had you considered cropping this shot so no clouds and sky show?

[Wavelength]

Nice shot

[Tom Barry]

I like it a lot.

[Geoff F]

I rather like the clouds being there so maybe as an alternative to Manfred's suggestion, leave the clouds but reduce the sky by about half?

[lovelife65]

I rather like the clouds being there so maybe as an alternative to Manfred's suggestion, leave the clouds but reduce the sky by about half?

This is a great suggestion Geoff (not that Manfred's wasn't). I think the clouds offer another layer and perspective, but the sky is relatively useless.

Thanks for commenting

[Manfred M]

I rather like the clouds being there so maybe as an alternative to Manfred's suggestion, leave the clouds but reduce the sky by about half?

I like the clouds too, but putting a bright area near the edge of the frame draws too much attention to that part of the image. Removing the bright areas brings the viewers eyes to where they should be in the image. Regardless of how nice they are, they are a distracting element.


1. No sky version






Version that preserves the layer of clouds

[Wavelength]

I like the original as well as Manfred's second edit

[Dave Humphries]

I think both the original framing and 'no clouds' crop make valid images.

I also wondered about preserving the clouds in a crop, but (now seen) find that fails without the context of the distance the blue sky provides, it just distracts.

The 'no clouds' crop concentrates our attention on the city, it could perhaps, at the risk of being too (panoramic) wide, lose a little more from the top edge. You could go further and lose 20% width from LH edge to obtain a crop that promotes the river as the main subject.

However, the original works well for me in showing the scale of city vs vast landscape.

It took me a while, as a European, to realise that "ID" meant Idaho.

Cheers,
Dave

[DanK]

I'm guessing I may know why you wouldn't want to live in ID, despite the gorgeous scenery.

I wouldn't crop off the sky or the sky and clouds. It's a less interesting composition if you do. I would, however, crop off 1/3 to 1/2 of the (non-cloud) sky.

Beyond that, i would do several things:

1. The image is off in terms of color, which is common in the case of haze, which generates a blue cast. I'd warm it.
2. I'd increase contrast. Ideally, I would do that with a brush to avoid weakening the effects of the mist in those parts of the image. Alternatively, do it globally, but add a white mask and paint with a black brush over the bands of cloud/mist.
3. I'd increase vibrance a lot.

I'm backed up today, so I can't do a quick edit to illustrate.

[lovelife65]

Manfred, your second edit looks perfect, thank you for taking the time to do so!!

[lovelife65]

Dan and Dave, thank you so much for the suggestions, they are appreciated. Very helpful. In terms of warming it up, that's an on the fence thing for me, because from what I remember it was a foggy, cool looking day and to warm it up seems "dishonest"... yet maybe a touch? I need to learn to use the brushes more effectively. Good assignment to try to learn better techniques

[rpcrowe]

I wonder how you would like a bit of dehaze filter, a bit of additional structure and a bit of warmth...

[Manfred M]

In terms of warming it up, that's an on the fence thing for me, because from what I remember it was a foggy, cool looking day and to warm it up seems "dishonest"

I certainly would not call it "dishonest", but rather a different vision for the scene. The good news is that it really doesn't matter, as long as you are comfortable with the final result.

[senojbor]

I like the original better than the alternatives.

[lovelife65]

I wonder how you would like a bit of dehaze filter, a bit of additional structure and a bit of warmth...

The crop is an improvement, but what I see is too much gray, which is not ideal. I appreciate the edit, it gives me good ideas on how to better frame photos.

[xpatUSA]

I wonder how you would like a bit of dehaze filter ...

Agree with the de-haze and would also select the sky and tone it down a bit to bring out the town and countryside more, Sharon.

[lovelife65]

Agree with the de-haze and would also select the sky and tone it down a bit to bring out the town and countryside more, Sharon.

Thank you Ted. I think I need to take more time and care in terms of framing, etc. as there are times when things like the sky matter, and other times not so much... and in this case it's more of the latter