Why is this so terrible.....

[a_auger]

Hope this helps!

I'm going to assume you didn't mean to watermark this :mrgreen:

Whoops! Damn LR export presets! I can remove it or replace it with a non-WM if you want!

Edit: Done! Replaced with a non-WM Sorry about that!

 

[KmH]

View attachment 77943

Using PS CC Camera Raw.
Global edits - +1 EV Exposure, +11 Temperature, + 55 Clarity, +40 Vibrance. Sharpen - Amount 25, Radius 1.0, Detail 25, Masking 0 (my standard global capture sharpening).
Local edits - Sky. Graduated Filter tool - Exposure minus 1.45, Contrast +28, Clarity +21, Saturation +21, Sharpening +20, Noise Reduction +74

Using PC CC.
Local edits - Dodged (Dodge tool settings - Midtones, 50%, Protect tones) the cliffs in the background, parts of the road, parts of the foreground on each side of the road.
Global edits - added a narrow black border.

 

[astroNikon]

This is stuff I need to learn too .. but I only have LR

 

[agp]

I think HDR is a good way to make an interesting photo more interesting, it will rarely make an uninteresting photo interesting. With that said, I do not think the original photo is very interesting. If you had shot this photo from a higher point of view, the road could be an anchor for the eye. Given what we have to work with though, I think the photo could do with less blue, especially in the distant mountains. This is what I came up with after some quick tweaks.

 

[JustJazzie]

Thanks everyone for helping with the editing part. Maybe next time I'm there the sky will be more exciting and I can try a different angle.

 

[astroNikon]

use a 50 ft tall ladder off to the left too

okay, maybe not.

 

[KmH]

This is what I came up with after some quick tweaks.

It has a strong magenta color cast.

Do you regularly color calibrate your editing display?

 

[JustJazzie]

It has a strong magenta color cast. Do you regularly color calibrate your editing display?

:hide: no. I've tried watching a few videos, but Havent really figured it out. I'm editing on an imac, so perhaps I should bake e.rose some cookies and she would help me figure it out. ;-)

And I knew this had WB issues, I just couldn't get it right.... Since I knew the shot was scrap anyways, I just gave up.

 

[KmH]

I was asking member agp, which is why I quoted the comment I did.

The biggest issue with your photo was the under exposure of the foreground. A GND filter over the sky would have helped that.

You need to learn more about camera metering so you'll know when not to trust the meter and make the appropriate manual adjustments to compensate for the way it works.

 

[JustJazzie]

I was asking member agp, which is why I quoted the comment I did. The biggest issue with your photo was the under exposure of the foreground. A GND filter over the sky would have helped that. You need to learn more about camera metering so you'll know when not to trust the meter and make the appropriate manual adjustments to compensate for the way it works.

Sorry, I guess I missed the quote. Just in case you missed- this was one of 5 shots because I originally wanted to turn this into an HDR. It seemed to me, to be the most "balanced" of the 5 different exposures which is why I chose it for editing. So I suppose I can't blame the cameras meter here, or my lack of metering knlowadge, just my bad eyesight. ;-)

 

[agp]

This is what I came up with after some quick tweaks.

It has a strong magenta color cast.

Do you regularly color calibrate your editing display?

No I do not, because I can't count on other people calibrating their display to match my monitor. But I did temporarily adjust my display so that I too see the image as purple so I can tweak it. How does it look now?