I remember "Art Appreciation" back in about Grade School, with the teacher saying something like, "Look how the artist found all these wonderful colors in an ordinary scene." And me thinking, "Huh?" I tend not to do *too* much manipulation on any of my photos, but admittedly I would have a difficult time holding a job in photojournalism. We capture colors in different ways, sometimes using highly saturated transparency emulsions, sometimes really cranking up the contrast in the LAB mode channels, sometimes de-emphasizing them to B&W. Here's an image from last weekend. These canyons are dark. Where the sun does shine, it is blinding. The walls look mostly dingy gray/brown. The first surprise is seeing what more light (exposure) does to these walls. The first image in this series has no color adjustment, and there are colors here I certainly did not see in the original scene. The others have progressively more color enhancement. The third image is much more enhancement than I will usually try.

...then again, maybe its those odd mushrooms...

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=399134&Start=1&Sectionid=8&filter_genre_id=0&WhatsNe

A link to a larger version.

Wow!!! That's cool. I just learned something new...when you add stuff like that it makes the picture more interesting too. Great job!!! -Johannah

By the time I got to the 3rd image I thought I was doing mushrooms! (I guess everyone won't understand that comment). Kind of reminds me of Roger Water's (Pink Floyd) CD, The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking when he said, "... not the way that the good Load made, but what he intended". I guess that we all play that game sometimes.

the shrooms comment was not lost on this old Dead Head. ;-)~ What a long strange trip its been! Magick Michael (note the "magick")

I will sometimes boost up saturaration a bit if an image needs it. I can make for a much more interesting photo....a point that must be made for those who are new to photography.....easy does it!! You need to do this type of stuff with a light hand, too much saturation is just as much a problem as not enough and can make for a very unattractive image... subtlety is key!

Ooops! and Misha you did a great job here!

Wow. You've all been so busy prattling about the colour that no-one has commented on the grumpy face in the right hand rock........... (",)

Jordy, back away from the mushrooms and nobody gets fried....

Cool, thanks for the quickie. Lesson, that is.