Ten years after the fire.

[Round Tuit]

I went for a walk this morning in an wooded area that burned in a forest fire about 10 years ago. There was a light drizzle falling when I took this picture. I liked the way that nature is recovering from this disaster and the contrast between the bright sumac and the grey and the blackened trees with burnt out branches.



C and C always welcomed.

[xpatUSA]

Well seen, André,

Certainly tells the tale ...

[DanK]

I think this is a good capture, but if it were mine, I would do more with it. It's relatively low in contrast, which partly obscures the contrast between the burnt trees and new growth. I'd crop, particularly from the left, to focus more on the interesting lines and contrasts in the center. Here's a very quick and dirty edit just to show the directions I was thinking about. I just increased midtone contrast modestly, boosted vibrance (but not saturation), sharpened more (a high pass filter, which I use when lines are particularly important--1.0 pixel, 50 percent opacity, overlay blend), and cropped. Is this a direction worth exploring?

[xpatUSA]

I think this is a good capture, but if it were mine, I would do more with it. It's relatively low in contrast, which partly obscures the contrast between the burnt trees and new growth. I'd crop, particularly from the left, to focus more on the interesting lines and contrasts in the center. Here's a very quick and dirty edit just to show the directions I was thinking about. I just increased midtone contrast modestly, boosted vibrance (but not saturation), sharpened more (a high pass filter, which I use when lines are particularly important--1.0 pixel, 50 percent opacity, overlay blend), and cropped. Is this a direction worth exploring?

Another way to bring out the sumac leaves is with wavelet processing, in particular contrast by detail size. In this way, the approx. 8-pixel size leaves can be enhanced while at the same time allowing reduction of the contrast of the larger pixel-size dead trunks. Also, the original histogram peak was a little far to the right for my taste and could be moved to the left with a concave curve (lowered middle tone). Maybe I went a little too far with that.



Original by André at left ...

[Round Tuit]

I think this is a good capture, but if it were mine, I would do more with it. It's relatively low in contrast, which partly obscures the contrast between the burnt trees and new growth. I'd crop, particularly from the left, to focus more on the interesting lines and contrasts in the center. Here's a very quick and dirty edit just to show the directions I was thinking about. I just increased midtone contrast modestly, boosted vibrance (but not saturation), sharpened more (a high pass filter, which I use when lines are particularly important--1.0 pixel, 50 percent opacity, overlay blend), and cropped. Is this a direction worth exploring?

Thank you Dan. I like the edits that you suggest. You demo created a more focused and "cleaner" picture.
Having said that, I don't think that I will push mine much beyond what I already have in terms of contrast or sharpness. When I took the picture the sky was overcast and dark grey, there was a light drizzle falling and the air was very hazy. The scene was therefore very dull i.e. little contrast or sharpness and quite dark. I tried to retain some of that mood.
I will however explore different crops and am quite intrigued by the high pass sharpening.

[Round Tuit]

Another way to bring out the sumac leaves is with wavelet processing, in particular contrast by detail size. In this way, the approx. 8-pixel size leaves can be enhanced while at the same time allowing reduction of the contrast of the larger pixel-size dead trunks. Also, the original histogram peak was a little far to the right for my taste and could be moved to the left with a concave curve (lowered middle tone). Maybe I went a little too far with that.



Original by André at left ...

Thanks Ted.
There is more than one way to skin a cat! The wavelet sharpening of Rawtherapy is a powerful tool to selectively sharpen elements of pictures based on the size of the details. Photoshop offers different ways to achieve the same result.
As for the darkening it is not too far if that is what you like. Personally, I prefer the lighter version.