Coots at Sunset

[Judy Howle]

This is a rework of the image I posted in the thread with the previous Foggy Sunset image. I started over with the Raw capture in Lightroom and tweaked it a bit from the original processing and cropped a little differently and then I took advantage of the adjustment brush adding Lightness and Exposure just to the fog areas to bring them out. I also added a blue gradient to the upper sky to darken it a little and add color. Then in Photoshop I used Topaz Adjust to increase contrast and saturation and brightness and then I brushed off the adjustment from the dark line of trees to keep them dark. I thought it was still a bit dark so I used levels slightly to brighten it a little more.
5D Mark II, f/4.5 @ 96 mm, 1/100, ISO 640 & 24 - 105 lens

[Robert Amoruso]

Nice job Judy. Just was I was thinking when I comment on the previous post. Thank you for the detailed description the the workflow.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Excellent use of layers and colour here Judy...very tranquil image that deserves spending a bit of time just looking at.
I notice some speckles in the fog on the RHS - do you have an idea of they are far-off birds or artifacts from processing? :e3

[Jay Gould]

Lovely image. I would crop the top to just above the dark cloud on the RHS. Leave just a hint of the white cloud above the black to give it definition.

[Judy Howle]

Thanks Robert!

[Judy Howle]

Thanks Morkel. That is noise which was increased by processing and I don't have perfect vision so I didn't notice it. I reworked it from scratch to see if I could eliminate it. I upped the NR in Lightroom and then I used Dfine painted on to that area aggressively plus the blur tool. This one is not exactly like the other one in other respects but possibly better. I used a different technique to color the sky darker. I also used Levels painted only on the fog to lighten it as well as using the adjustment brush in Lightroom over it.

[Judy Howle]

Thanks Jay. I did a "browser crop" as you suggested and I like it better as is. (Besides I didn't see your response until I posted it and I think I'm done with it, LOL.) I'll see what others think...

[Rachel Hollander]

Judy - repost looks good (though now pilings are visible in the area you cleaned up on the left). I like pastel colors. Thanks for sharing your workflow on this one.


TFS,
Rachel

[Judy Howle]

Thanks Rachel!

[Jay Gould]

Thanks Jay. I did a "browser crop" as you suggested and I like it better as is. (Besides I didn't see your response until I posted it and I think I'm done with it, LOL.) I'll see what others think...

Wasn't there another image with more of the white/light clouds above the dark clouds? The image I am looking at now it just fine!!