Please help with pp of this photo!

[Captain IK]

I love this photo but realize it needs work. I just seem to be stuckon what to do with it. Any help is appreciated.
Be cruel if need be. If it's a lousy shot just say so.

 

[Jaszek]

quick edit in Lightroom:

 

[ANDS!]

Its a lousy shot. But then, the scene in and of itself isn't bad, its just the noise. That terrible, terrible noise. In these cases, sometimes a B&W conversion is best as noise seems a lot more forgiving in B&W than without.

 

[Lunchbox]

 

[a_spaceman]

the shot is underexposed and noisy. editing a noisy photo is very, very hard.
i mean, you can work on lots of parameters but then, you won't get rid of the noise.
look for something that is "forgiving" (b&W being an example) as AND! said.

iso 400 or 800? what film did you use?

 

[Captain IK]

It was a cheap digital point and shoot camera few years ago.
I understand and agree that technically it is a terrible shot. I just like the fog and mist in the picture. Some interesting alterations guys. I was hoping someone could spread some magic dust on it and make it better. Thanks for the effort & opinions.

 

[ShutterSpeed]

i much less think the difficulty with this picture is the graininess as much as it is the pixels..its very pixelated. i worked with a little bit, the photo itself can be beautiful in the eye of the photographer. It doesn't have to be edited in any way special. too much editing also adds to the noise, so, i say leave it be.

 

[ANDS!]

i much less think the difficulty with this picture is the graininess as much as it is the pixels..its very pixelated. i worked with a little bit, the photo itself can be beautiful in the eye of the photographer. It doesn't have to be edited in any way special. too much editing also adds to the noise, so, i say leave it be.

What you are perceiving as a pixelated image is really just the noise. Unless of course you really CAN see individual pixels in that image. . .

 

[Early]

I would have liked the first one as is if there was something more interesting instead of that whatever it is. A person, maybe, or a couple.

 

[LaFoto]

Sorry, Captain Dave, but I think this photo is beyond rescue.
I don't know what camera you work with. The size looks like it might be a compact digital camera? Those often start to show horrific amounts of noise at only 200 ISO, and 400 ISO just produce photos ... erm ... for the bin (my Powershot does this!). I appreciate that the foggy day you had (which you tried to capture here) was quite dark. Which is why either you yourself - or the camera in your stead if it was an Auto ISO - suggested you crank up the iso much as not to get too long shutter speeds. Well ... either don't DO it with a compact camera of the kind, i.e. don't push the ISO any higher than 100, or don't LET the camera do it, i.e. take off auto ISO. Get yourself a tripod (or a bean bag, or find yourself a wall, a bucket, a box, whatever) as support, and allow for longer shutter speeds in dark(er) surroundings. You might be happier with the outcome in the end.

 

[Captain IK]

Your points are well taken LaFoto.
The pic was taken with an HP Photosmart point and shoot about 4 or 5 years ago.
I use a Nikon D60 now....much. much better quality and control.

 

[Captain IK]

Here's another taken same location (different direction) a few minutes later. Not much better but more interesting.