Chairs

[Tuffythepug]

This is my first photo-post here on the forum. comments or critique ?

 

[g13a]

The composition is nice.I feel you have overdone saturation in the picture.
The color of sky make it looks over saturated.

 

[JoshuaSimPhotography]

I like it, it feels like people are actually sitting there enjoying the view

 

[WesternGuy]

Nice shot and interesting concept. I would agree with g13a, it appears to be a bit oversaturated. I would also crop that little bit of whatever it is on the lower middle, right part of the image. as it is a bit distracting.
______________
WesternGuy

 

[Tuffythepug]

OK.. for comparison purposes here is the shot with nothing done to it except the suggest crop of the bottom center area (a hot tub cover) No enhancement of any kind. This is the natural sky color. Better ? or not ?

Joshua, you pretty much nailed what I was going for here. I was hoping to make the viewer wish he was sitting in one of those chairs. That's the feeling I got from the scene

 

[mcleish]

All i did here was bump up the exposure a little and stretched out the whites and blacks in lightroom. Just watch the saturation slider.

EDIT:
I also like the photo a lot. Great composition IMO.

 

[g13a]

Nice edit Mcleish.
I give 10/10 for you for the edit and 10/10 to tuffy for the Composition.

 

[Tuffythepug]

Thanks to Mcleish for the tasteful enhancement of the shot. I agree with your improvements.
Thanks also to you and g13a for the kind words about the composition. I do appreciate the feedback

 

[deeky]

I have to say that the picture made me want to look to the left of the picture so that I could see the view that the chairs had. It might change the focus of the photo a little, but try taking a wider view, keeping the chairs to the right side of the shot. Show a little more of that great desert skyline.

 

[Tuffythepug]

I've taken the collective wisdom of those who responded and gave it another try.
Mcleish, I have noticed the photo editing program I've been using doesn't give me the options I need. I'll probably go ahead and get Lightroom because it seems to be popular with lots of forum members. For now I am trying out a free version of Picassa 3 which is a step up from what I was using. I'll see how versatile it is as I learn to use it.
This is the first edit of the original with Picassa. I aimed to get close to your version in lightroom.
I think it comes fairly close but could probably be improved upon further still

 

[Rick58]

Well done. 1000% improvement

 

[Tuffythepug]

Just wanted to update you guys on this photo. I was surprised this morning to find my photo featured prominently in the Travel section of the Sacramento Bee newspaper. I had submitted it for possible use in that section several weeks ago and had forgotten about it. Imagine my surprise when I discovered a large (about 5x7) print of this picture when I opened the paper. I know it's not earth-shattering but it's the first time I've had anything published and I was pretty proud.

I just wanted to share my joy with others who might be struggling to get themselves noticed. You never know when you might happen !