Monet's Boat

[Dave Mills]

I was at Giverny a few days before I returned home from my trip to France. The folks I was with claimed it wasn't that crowded but there were people everywhere.
The gardens don't open up until 10 so all the good light is long gone. As a tourist it's a great place to visit(especially his house) but as a serious photographer there are many problems. Near one of the waterlily ponds(none blooming at the time) I saw his boat in an evenly shaded area where no people could get in the way...
PB and sharpened in Topaz Detail.

[John Storjohann]

Dave, I like this image...the lines from the stone walls draw your eye to boat, the reflection in the water is wonderful, and I like the effect from PB (just downloaded it recently...would you mind sharing what you did with this image?). If it were mine I might boost the saturation just a little to give it a bit more "pop"...but what a wonderful capture!

[Maureen Allen]

Dave, what a lovely peaceful scene! I like the pb effect on the flowers, the bamboo (?) and the leaves in the foreground. The reflection of the wall in the water is wonderful. Such a pretty spot.

[Susan Candelario]

You certainly have the eye, Dave! Love the comp. PB effect and the reflections. The colors are good for me as is. If I where to boost a color it would probably be a bit selectively in the pinks on what looks like lilies to me (?) I also wondered as Maureen, are those bamboo plants? Very nicely done :cheers:

[Dave Mills]

Susan, yes, those plants are bamboo.
John, I have no direct formula for each image other than I start with PB and see what other filters might do to it. In this case I used Topaz Detail and sharpened(they have a number of sharpening,detail filters) the image to a point where I created this effect. There are variables in all the filters so play with the sliders until you get your desired effect. The more you experiment with the plug-ins the more you will learn...

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Dave,
I'm fine with the greens too although I might be tempted to selectively lighten the boat. As for the comp.....you know me and the crop tool:Whoa!:......taking some off the bottom....to about an inch below the wall on the RH side...improves the compositional flow for me. The leaves a nice base and just let's my eye move from the canal/drain.....to the boat.......let me know what you think.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Roman, I looked at your suggestion and it works....

[Paul Lagasi]

I like the image colors and smokin effects, I agree with Roman a bit off the bottom, making it a bit more of a landscape. I do like the colors the way they are...

[Jay Sheinfield]

All has been said......... it's a great peaceful scene.

[Nick Palmieri]

My first impression was the crop Roman suggested as well. Dave, you are PB mad-man! The effect works really well here. The composition with the crop is perfect!!!

[Cheryl Slechta]

Dave, this looks like a Van Gogh and I really like the effect. I was at Giverny years ago and even then it was so crowded I felt like I was at Disney World. It would be great to go back and take a photography workshop there.:S3:

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Dave, a very beautiful scene. Agree with Roman with the crop from the bottom. Your PB work is incredible :cheers: