Help me decide which one..

[Kris V]

This must be the most photographed tree (by me) in my yard, at least in spring and fall. It's a white dogwood and before the leaves start to drop in the fall the red colour is absolutely stunning.
For the last few years I have been trying to get to do the red leaves justice, but I just don't seem to be able to get it right.
I post processed a few different ways, and kept these 2, but I'm not really sure which one works best.
Would a square crop work in this case?
My personal preference is the first one.

1.

2.

I just saw the squiggly lines and circular spot in the sky after I uploaded the file - It was not visible in the Tiff file, and I didn't pay enough attention to the jpg after I converted it.
Got some cleanup to do.....

[Andrew1]

I like the first one primarily because it's brighter. It might even go up a bit more. Changing the framing to a 1:1 ratio and removing some of the grey area on top would push more attention onto the tree. The chairs are a nice touch. Setting them on a 45 degree angle towards each other would suggest people sit and talk there. The objects on the right side may have special meaning for you but distracts from the main subject. Removing them would also give viewers less clutter to look at. You have a nice tree to practice on.

[Geoff F]

Yes cropping the top to just above the left hand tree would certainly help. Which I suppose would be about a square crop. Alternatively shoot wider and crop to 5 x 4 ratio; providing there is sufficient side space without distraction.

[Squidgy]

Hi Kris, are you using Photoshop? I spent a few seconds editing the second JPEG and this is what I did using LAYERS. You might want to try this yourself rather than me posting an edit.

Open JPEG
Unsharp Mask: Amount 100 - Radius 0.3 or less
Create Adjustment Layers as follows
Selective Colour: Set Colour to Reds and adjust Cyan to -50
Vibrance: Vib +35 and Saturation +12
Curves 1: Make a really, really, gentle S curve to add a tiny bit of contrast
Curves 2: Push the middle of the line towards the top left corner just to lighten the image a little

Have a go and experiment and have fun.

[Mike Buckley]

I just saw the squiggly lines and circular spot in the sky after I uploaded the file

I don't know what caused the circular spot, but I think the squiggly lines are only in the reduced image that is automatically displayed in the thread. Those lines aren't in the larger image displayed in the Lightbox. That indicates to me that they are perhaps a moire effect, though I've never seen a moire pattern displayed in the sky. Very strange!

[Kris V]

Hi Kris, are you using Photoshop? I spent a few seconds editing the second JPEG and this is what I did using LAYERS.
Have a go and experiment and have fun.

I have PhotoShop CS6 and am familiar with layers, adjustment layers and masking. I actually enhanced the colour a bit in LAB mode.
I still have the layered Tiff to try out your suggestion. Thanks for the feedback.

[Kris V]

The objects on the right side may have special meaning for you but distracts from the main subject. Removing them would also give viewers less clutter to look at. You have a nice tree to practice on.

If I remove the flags from this picture, I will definitely get in BIG trouble with my husband.....
I should be able to clone out the rest.
I will try to post the updated edit tomorrow.

[Kris V]

The 1x1 crop didn't work for me. Here is a slightly edited version with the clutter removed from the right side:

[Mike Buckley]

Kris,

I have looked at your images several times trying my best to think that your treatment of the autumn leaves on the tree isn't overdone. Unfortunately, I just can't get there. As an example, your treatment of the ground is marvelous, partly because it appears very natural to me. Contrast that with your treatment of the leaves on the tree, which seems a bit unnatural.

Try dialing that adjustment back a bit and see if you like it. Another alternative is to brighten the dark leaves on the sides and other tree tops to add a bit more balance. As an example, perhaps you only need to bring those areas back to the levels of light and detail that are displayed in the original.

I would be willing to bet that you didn't use a polarizer, which would have helped minimize the glare and increase in a natural way the saturation that you seem to be hoping to achieve.

[ajohnw]

I would say that there was way too much sharpening on the last post. A lot too much. Poor monitor calibration can encourage that as I have found but when sharpening a reduced jpg I think it's safest to start really low and stop when it just makes a perceptible difference when viewed at 100%. In this case that mainly applies to the tree and hopefully the grass etc wont be over emphasised.

-

[Kris V]

Mike and John,
Thanks for the feedback - I'm gonna start from scratch with the RAW file again. In the meantime, here's one more - adjusted in LAB mode - the uncropped version:
Suggestions?