Cabin in the Morning Mist

[Ken Curtis]

I've been away on various trips for the last two months, but now that is over. I took the image below this October in the Adirondack Mountains in New York State. It was early morning, just after sunrise and mist was still in the air. I wanted to convey the idea that living here would be peaceful. Any suggestions for improvements are welcomed.

[KCBrecks]

That looks like a perfect place Ken. One of those you want to keep to yourself.

I saw a picture similar to this in a book I bought a couple of week ago and it had been PP'd by dropping the Brightness and increasing the Contrast each a little, adding an orange warming filter then altering the color balance to bring out the flowers and leaves. Finally a Lab Sharpen had been used. It could be worth a try. It could push the mist a little further back so that the cabin is more prominent.

[Geoff F]

I usually find that misty scenes need a good 'reference point' normally in the foreground so that it obviously looks like a misty scene rather than just poor focus/exposure.

Possibly something along the lines of Keith's suggestion might work well here.

[annie5154]

A beautiful image Ken with nice colour. I think it needs more colour, so a bit of saturation and vibrance might help.
Anne

[Sergio M.]

Ken, I'm going on memory because I only saw the image briefly at home before I left for work. Here at work so many images are blocked by security policies. I like the image; it does have a peace and serenity to it, but I agree it could use a bit more saturation and or vibrance.

Serge

[Ken Curtis]

Thanks everyone for the comments. Truly appreciated. I've been wrestling with saturation levels in that I have a friend who does beautiful work and does not saturate her images. I did make some adjustments to contrast and saturation and you can see the difference in the revised image below. Another thing I noticed just after uploading the original photo was the bright milkweed pods in the center foreground. I darkened the pods so the eye is not drawn toward them. In reprocessing, I also wanted to keep the mist because of the atmosphere.

I like the newer version much better. So thanks again for the advice.

[lost canyon]

I agree that the newer version is fantastic. I also wanted to add, as a side note, that I used to live in the Adirondacks and this brings back fond memories. Beautiful work.

[Donald]

I like the newer version much better. So thanks again for the advice.

Yep, I think that's just given it a subtle lift, without destroying the sense of peace and calmness induced by the low contrast.