This month the photo has been supplied by Katie Prior from Drawing with Light (thanks Katie).
Initially I wasn’t sure what to do…. I adjusted my usuals (being clarity, vibrance and saturation in Lightroom) tweaking it until I was happy with the clarity and colour.
I then decided (just to be different) to flip the photo to the other side (using the Photo tab and going down to flip horizontal in LR). I liked this side better, for no particular reason, other than being left handed I decided. One could argue that they led your eye into the shot but I liked that the rock path did that for me.Then I did a small crop.
I liked the fact that there were people on the rocks but felt the two closest distracted me from the landscape behind, as there is actually a nice green area, so I spot corrected them out (sorry people) using Cnt Q. One could argue that they lead your eye into the shot but I liked that the rock path did that for me.
I then used adjustment brush to colour up the landscape, beyond the rocks, a little more with clarity and vibrance to bring out the green pastures slightly and to define the horizon more strongly.
I also used another adjustment brush to darken the lovely stonework to give it a richer colour and texture by
fiddling with vibrance and also the exposure slider.
I used a radial filter (Cnt M) to darken the sky which gave it a more ominous feel like a storm was about to settle in.
A little vibrance and tweak of the saturation bar on the water and I was done. Lastly I did a light vignette of the whole photo.
For a few different versions on this lovely photo from Katie, please go to the link below to Stacy Fischers website – Visual Venturing – who runs this fun challenge:
daysandmonths 
This one is challenging. Wonderful edits here, Kaz! I like the colors you added and how you dark the stones.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was challenging that’s for sure. Thanks so much Amy 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very skillful and tasteful editing, Kaz. Your decision to have 2 people to go swimming was a good one!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Reinhold… maybe I should have had their heads bobbing out of the water lol! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was tossing up on whether to remove the people at the bend as well but in the end I left them there, the flip works nicely here, nice job 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks very much. Yes I debated to about the ones on the end but I wanted a subject at the end for the eye to rest on… 🙂
LikeLike
I really like the idea of removing the people and leaving the two alone out at the end. It adds impact to the solitude.
LikeLike
I like the different perspective, very nice editing.
LikeLike
Kaz, what great decisions you made! I didn’t even consider removing the two people or cropping, and both really work well. And who knew there were green pastures hidden in the distance?? Your attention to detail really paid off in a strong, really beautiful edit! You definitely know how to rock waterscapes, my friend 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gee thanks Stacy. I wasnt sure what I was going to do and just started and kept going. Sometimes it flows like this one. I really appreciate your lovely comments 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
My pleasure, Kaz 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
A-ha! I am not the only one. 🙂 It really works, flipping the image. I am always surprised by that. I love how you managed to pull out the details from the land in the background, lovely work.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Lore I think we were on the same track, flipping the image and vanishing people. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, we are so cruel. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
haha yes 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
The first thing I noticed was the impending storm that you accentuated with your processing. The flip bothers me a little but maybe because I am right handed, who knows. But overall I love what you did. I was not able to submit anything this week as my pc is down but I had also tried to remove the couple that you were able to, but I couldn’t get a clean edit on them. Great job!
LikeLike
Lovely edit Karen. Nice flip, I should give this idea a try sometime. Love that you have created a storm in the background, very dark and moody and I like the details on the jut of land at the back. Great work all round! 🙂
LikeLike
I also like the flip, giving a new perspective of the image. The darker tone helps the image as well adding a slight mood to the image.
LikeLike