Another Mesquite Dunes abstract

[Urbanflyer]

I guess I was really captivated in 2013. I think this one works well in color. Appreciate your continued helpful comments.


death valley mesquite dunes ridge abstract by urbanflyer, on Flickr

[DanK]

I like this image a lot. It's minimalist but effective. The line makes a good core of a composition.

I do have one idea for you. As it stands, the secondary detail on both sides of the line is very muted. Even though this is minimalist, I think the image might be improved by enhancing that secondary detail. Just as an illustration, I just added contrast, using a different curve on each side because I wanted to emphasize different tones on the two sides. Do you think this is a direction worth pursuing?

[Wavelength]

Amazing image; worthy to be hung in a high-class Art gallery

[Rita]

I do like this image and I agree with Dan. The edit he added just gives the image that extra punch.

[Manfred M]

Another well done minimalist image, Judith.

A slightly different view, but mostly dealing with contrast and brightness. There is a bright line (from sharpening) that runs along the top edge of the dune that bothers me.

[Urbanflyer]

I like this image a lot. It's minimalist but effective. The line makes a good core of a composition.

I do have one idea for you. As it stands, the secondary detail on both sides of the line is very muted. Even though this is minimalist, I think the image might be improved by enhancing that secondary detail. Just as an illustration, I just added contrast, using a different curve on each side because I wanted to emphasize different tones on the two sides. Do you think this is a direction worth pursuing?

I worked in that mode using dodging and burning and was really pleased. Thanks for the critique! I am not so adept at curves---YET! Will get there.

[FootLoose]

Nice work, Judith. I suspect this image might also work well in high contrast black and white

[DanK]

I am not so adept at curves---YET! Will get there.

Judith,

IMHO, curves are one of the most basic and important editing tools, so I urge you to make that a priority in your studying. In fact, in a basic Photoshop course I'm now co-teaching, I introduced the curve and explained it in terms of manipulation of the histogram in the first class, and I'm coming back to it in the third class, which is coming up this month.

The curves tool is extremely flexible and powerful and can be used for many other things, but one thing in particular puts it at the top of my list: it's the most effective and flexible way to increase mid-tone contrast. That's exactly what struck me in your post: the need for more midtone contrast.

Dan

[Manfred M]

+1 to Dan's comment. I do very much the same thing as he does when I teach Photoshop. Mastering curves is probably the one thing that improved my own retouching skills. Curves can be applied globally and through the use of layer masks, locally. A Clipping Mask, which limits the adjustments to the specific layer you are working on can come in quite handy at times.

The second part is to understand Photoshop's blending modes. This functionality can be very important in the dealing with a side effect of using curves (and other tools that lighten or darken areas). In any RGB colour space, which is generally the default that we use in Photoshop, saturation changes when we darken or lighten areas of the image. Working in the default "Normal" blending mode does that. If we want to keep saturation changes out of the process, then using the "Luminosity" blending mode lets us do that. When I burn or just apply curves locally or globally, I will often work in the Luminosity blending mode.

The other approach that I do use at times is to work in the L*a*b* colour space. The L* channel (which stands for "Lightness") allows the user to make adjustments that do not affect the saturation at all. Most people do steer away from this because using the a* and b* channels is not very intuitive.

The only other tool I use in most of my work is adjusting the saturation using a Hue / Saturation adjustment in conjunction with a layer mask. I rarely use the default "Master" setting, but will just work with specific colour channels. I will use this tool in conjunction with layer masks and clipping masks for local adjustments. I very rarely (i.e. almost never) increase saturation, but frequently lower it.

[xpatUSA]

I guess I was really captivated in 2013. I think this one works well in color. Appreciate your continued helpful comments.


death valley mesquite dunes ridge abstract by urbanflyer, on Flickr

Hello Judith, was playing with your posted image and noticed some blue and green artifacts all over but especially in the darker areas. They are also in the posted image, less noticeable, but GIMP sliders take no prisoners.



Bearing in mind the bright halo along the ridge, it might be well to start over, IMHO.

Not knocking the composition or the basis for the processing -both of which are very good. Just being a bit pedantic, is all.

[lovelife65]

Amazing photo and I love the discussion. Learning opportunities abound.