Editing made the photo look unreal

[tssupremacy]

Hi guys,

Would love some feedback of a photo I just took of a sweet-looking sunset - it looked like fire!

Shot with Oly E-M1:
20mm
ISO200
f/5.0

Edited with:
Lightroom 5.3
Color Efex Pro
Topaz DeNoise

I wanted to capture the awesome sky, obviously, but the trouble is that now the photo looks unreal. Would love some critique or editing suggestions, and don't worry about hurting my feelings!

Fire set | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[chris]

What does the unedited version look like?

 

[Nervine]

Can you post original to compare and try edits?

Looks like a gorgeous sunset none the less

 

[photograpix]

IMO it really depends on what you are trying to accomplished, you're the master of your on creation But yeah you should post the Original, the one you edited from LR and what filters you had on for Color Efex Pro.

 

[robbins.photo]

Hi guys,

Would love some feedback of a photo I just took of a sweet-looking sunset - it looked like fire!

Shot with Oly E-M1:
20mm
ISO200
f/5.0

Edited with:
Lightroom 5.3
Color Efex Pro
Topaz DeNoise

I wanted to capture the awesome sky, obviously, but the trouble is that now the photo looks unreal. Would love some critique or editing suggestions, and don't worry about hurting my feelings!

Fire set | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Just a quick glance looks like you've got way too much saturation there for starters.

 

[tssupremacy]

Thanks guys, will post the RAW when I get home tonight

 

[KmH]

You can't post a Raw file. You can post a JPEG, TIFF, PNG, etc.

On a minor point: JPEG, TIFF, and PNG are acronyms for Joint Photographic Experts Group, Tagged Image File Format, and Portable Network Graphics.
Raw is not an acronym, so only the first letter gets capitalized.

 

[tssupremacy]

Okay here's the original.

Untitled | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Would love some tips on methodolgies / workflow when it comes to the different softwares I've used.

 

[daggah]

It's OK for the image to look "unreal" if it's the look that YOU like. Unless you're shooting for a client, of course.

FWIW, I like the "edited" version better.

 

[astroNikon]

You just caught the evening sky in a "fireball" type shot.
I think it only looks unreal because it looks like a "fireball" but then as you look closer it really is the way it was.

I love evening skies that are not normal - alot of blues, pinks, purples .. they look unreal but that is what one sees.

Great capture.

 

[photograpix]

I think it looks great.

 

[Derrel]

Your edited image needs the black point moved to the right a bit, to make the blacks "blacker". It's overall too low in contrast, and has a sort of pale,weak coloration. The sky is neat, and the fire reflected in the lake looks decent, but you need more "contrast" and more "black" against which the fire's drama can stand out. You could achieve similar effects by adjusting the curves, especially the bottom part of the curve, and also, a bit in the lower-middle and middle zones.