Don't know what to do with this picture

[Lovelace]

I'm having a bit of trouble editing this picture. So far I've used the dodge tool on the river and saturated a few parts, but it still looks--I dunno, plain. I want it to be dark, but at the same time, I want it to stand out. Any suggestions? Also, do you know how I can get rid of the power lines? I've tried using the clone tool, but it always ends up looking fake because the shades in the sky are so different. Anyway, thanks in advance if you can help.

Full size image

 

[KevinPutman]

Does this look any better?

And as for the power lines, you could try painting over them. Zoom way in, and just select the closest color to it, use a soft brush to go over the lines, then hit it with a gaussian blur, probably around 2.0 to soften it out and blend better.

Also I suggest making a clip mask over the lines of the closest matching colors (so right under or above the lines) before you brush over it.

 

[480sparky]

Power lines are a piece of cake.

Heal tool (bandages) in GIMP:

 

[SunnyHours]

Here's what I did:
I used the clone tool on every line seperately and then I added a little Gaussian Blur and Voîlà!

 

[KevinPutman]

I was too lazy to play around with the power lines =p

i just messed with the water.

 

[480sparky]

I was too lazy to play around with the power lines =p

i just messed with the water.

Just don't mess with both...... water & electrickery don't mix, ya know!

 

[KevinPutman]

I was too lazy to play around with the power lines =p

i just messed with the water.

Just don't mess with both...... water & electrickery don't mix, ya know!

haha very true ^-^

 

[SensePhoto]

 

[Lovelace]

Wow, thanks for all the help, especially with the powerlines.

Kevin: I really like the enhancing on the water. Did you just use dodge or what?

Colldfire: I also like what you did with it. I realize you probably did a lot, but could you give me a basic idea of how you achieved that warm, almost glowy effect?

 

[KevinPutman]

I bumped up the Brightness/Contrast a bit, but somewhat erased what didn't look good (the land/sky).
Then hit the image with a Gaussian Blur (3.0). Set layer mode to Lighten (I think it was), and bumped the opacity down to about 40.
Plus extended the reflection of the water a bit further down with dodge.

 

[SensePhoto]

Wow, thanks for all the help, especially with the powerlines.

Kevin: I really like the enhancing on the water. Did you just use dodge or what?

Colldfire: I also like what you did with it. I realize you probably did a lot, but could you give me a basic idea of how you achieved that warm, almost glowy effect?

I made 3 duplicates of the original, cleared up some noise on all 3 and then adjusted exposures -/+2 so it came out as a bracketed shot with 3 different exposures. Threw them in HDR software and tone mapped it to make it look like this. Takes about 5 mins.

 

[Lovelace]

Ooh, I love it. I'm messing with Photoshop's HDR options, and I think I've achieved something similar. I'll have to mess with it some more, but that definitely gives the image a different feel.

 

[kundalini]

On the trash it, burn it, buy it list.... this is a trash it. Learn from it, but there isn't much to recover even if you could recover it. Part and parcel of the game.

 

[KevinPutman]

On the trash it, burn it, buy it list.... this is a trash it. Learn from it, but there isn't much to recover even if you could recover it. Part and parcel of the game.

Just curious,
what do you mean by that exactly?

 

[Lovelace]

On the trash it, burn it, buy it list.... this is a trash it. Learn from it, but there isn't much to recover even if you could recover it. Part and parcel of the game.

In other words, it's beyond saving but could be used for practice?