If you are a landscape photographer or generally only capture images of landscapes, how far do you go while processing your image? How much do you enhance the image? Do you attempt to create an image that is the best you can make? Or, do you try for as much realism as possible? Is your processing based on the scene or do you have a general ‘look’ to your images?
I was driving home from work the other day and the sun was breaking through a dark cloud cover. I was amazed by the clarity of the sunlight shining through the holes in the clouds. It was a very intense light that was begging me to pick up my camera. I knew in my head what I wanted in the foreground to help create a more interesting image. There was a tree in the field close to home that had the brightest yellow leaves. They would just ‘pop’ out of the picture against the clouds. I couldn’t drive fast enough.
My problem became a race against the wind. The clouds were moving too fast and I was losing my image. When I did arrive at the field I quickly pulled over, grabbed the camera and tried to make a picture as nice as the one I envisioned in my head. It didn’t quite work out as I had hoped. There was a second tree in the field next to my yellowed leaf beauty that was just empty branches. The clouds had already started to fill in the holes and the beams of sunlight were not as intense as I saw when I started this race. I clicked away for a few minutes and then the scene was gone.
The image below is the straight out of camera image…
Shine Down on Me – SOOC
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/160s, 62mm, f/11, ISO 400
I have stared at the images from that day for a while now. I wasn’t happy with how they turned out and I almost deleted them more than once. I decided I should try to see what I could create and set about processing the best of the group. I know the original thought in my head was to create a ‘landscape’ image which I have always associated with trying to make it look as ‘real’ as it was when the shutter clicked. That just wasn’t happening.
I ended up using Lightroom to do all my basic adjustments. Warm up the image slightly to help bring out the colors. Reduce the noise in the image. Tweak the highlights and shadows. Sharpen the image as I was just slightly out of focus. When I finally had everything set I threw the image in Topaz Labs Adjust and went to the HDR presets. I selected the ‘Dynamic Brightness’ preset and went to work tweaking the settings. The image below is the final result.
Shine Down on Me
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/160s, 62mm, f/11, ISO 400
You can definitely see the beams of sunlight and the autumn colors look good against the dark clouds but the image looks unreal to me. It is somewhat close to the image I had in my head when I first caught sight of the sky but it is far from what was really before me when I captured the scene. Now don’t get me wrong, I use all the tools at my disposal while processing my images. I’m not sure what my issue is with this particular image but if feels fake to me. I think I ‘pushed’ it too far while processing in my attempt to highlight the beams of sunlight. I know I have created other images that are far removed from reality so I’m struggling with what it is about this image that bothers me.
I would definitely be interested in any thoughts on this image or processing in general. Thanks…
MLCreations Photography 
Being driven by a clear image in your minds eye can, at times, be just what we need to get us out there taking pictures. Actually achieving the goal is perhaps a little more difficult as you seem to have found.
I’m certainly no professional but would offer the following :- less is sometimes more. You seem to be using lots of different sorts of image processing software. It almost seems as though you are using them because you have them! Start right back at the beginning and just move one step at a time. Sometimes changing the order by which you add the adjustment as this can have a significant effect on your image. If not happy then step back a move and try something else. Don’t just keep adding onto the last.
One thing to remember – if it’s not sharp to begin with no amount of sharpening will put that right. Bottom line is the image has to be best quality to start with – then you can enhance it to suit your needs.
Hope this helps?
Thanks for the thoughtful reply, it does help. I typically only use Lightroom to process my images. I try not to go overboard with adjustments and only tweak what I need to. If an image needs a little more help then I will use Elements and the occasional Topaz Labs filter. I guess it comes down to creating and image or capturing a view. Sometimes I like to do a little of both. 🙂