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

[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......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.

[Andrew McLachlan]

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