Okay since a few of you wanted to see.There was zero sun that day. I hated how it looked so I started initially adjusting the entire shot w/ levels and curves.But that did nothing special.I discovered I could select specific areas(I'm a newbie at PS-don't know nothin'really), and adjust them one at a time.Most helpful was hue and saturation of course,but curves was also extremely effective.What do you think? Did I overdo it? I'm a bit of a color freak sometimes. Oops just saw this was not the completed pic on the bottom.Had to fix something real quick.Did a bad job tho!Hope you won't notice!

Of course I dont know what the real colours were like, but to me the greens are over saturared. However the house looks close to what I imagin it should look like.

LOL.The real colors look the the top picture. :)

I agree with LostPatrol. The second is great on the house but the oversaturation of the geeens takes a tad away. I like this image and it is peaceful to the view. TomDart.

Looks cool. Who is to judge such a thing as saturation...not me. :-)

Maybe a half way between the two would be perfect.

Well I did say I could be a bit of a color freak!Especially after working on B&W's for a while!

I love the house. I think the green is a little over sat. But personally I tink over sat is better than under sat. What's strange is to me the trees seem to become less saturated as one looks at the left of the picture! Oddd. I would call this a keeper!! Bsteph

Is it possible it only looks good on my computer?Maybe I'm not seeing it the way you guys are. I've always wondered about that....

your postwork is sublime and excellent. you didnt overdo anything,Marlene. !!!!!!!!! #:O) !!!!!!!!

Thank you Gerhard! I needed that.HUGZ!

I love that second version totally Marlene!! Doesn't look oversaturated to me either! But I guess it's a matter of taste! I love strong contrasts and that second pic looks perfect to me!! Great job on this!

Thank you Pascale.You're such a sweetie.LOL, Ooh is it off topic to tell you that? LOL!

Oops!! Now u're being cheeky! ;)

cheeky, silly... of course not... the 2nd does look better but i see what bsteph sees... the tree's tones look a bit strange

Marlene, i love your postworked version. i think it is a bit oversaturated but sometimes i like that! in this case i do! Where it looks oversaturated to me is in the bark. Do you notice those green spotches of color?

I don't think it really takes anything away from your beautiful image though; however, you could try coming down just a hair to to see it evens out the bark's tones. You did a fabulous job! It's gorgeous!

Message edited on: 05/24/2005 00:25

I guess its all subjective. As Gerhard said it looks fine to him, this got me thinking, my comments were based on what greens look like where I live, that will no doubt be different in other parts of the world. Simon.

Yes, it is all very subjective. Let me add my 2 since I've actually been there recently. It is about 15 minutes from where I live and I have a ton of photos that I've been taking there in hopes of doing a series on the Morikami Japanese gardens. I see Marlene has beat me to it, grrr.. (wink) ;o] Do you live nearby Marlene? It is true that when you are actually there on an overcast day, the top image is more acurate. But we have photoshop for a reason, right? I do like the second but agree with some that the foliage is a bit oversaturated and flattened out a bit. The teahouse is perfect but for some green fringing above the door and light and some intense blues in the floorboards. The treebark almost seems solarized too, a neat effect if that is what you want. It reminds me a bit of the technicolor vintage postcards of the 50s-70s which I think is very cool. I hope you don't find my observations too critical. As I said I really like what you did and hope to see more from your visit to the Morikami. ---Kort

There's over saturated and then there is over saturated. For me the second is quite lovely, but this is coming from someone who loves Velvia....... I don't find the green to be over the top at all.

Velvia= transparency film known for it's saturated colors.

Message edited on: 05/24/2005 09:05

Not at all,Kort.I just answered your question in the gallery but why would you go back there,that was silly of me. As far as the teahouse having green and blue on it ,if I was doing a pastel or a painting those colors would have to be there to make the teahouse 'live' in it's environment.I don't know how to explain it but I see the colors in the shadows and reflections of things.So this naturally looked right to me.I darkened that tree trunk on purpose.I see many were not fond of that, but my goal was to balance the dark lines of the teahouse.The pic didn't feel balanced to me with the trunk so light.As I stated at the top of the page,I am very very new to photoshop,(less than 2 months).There is much I have to learn.But I am enjoying myself immensely playing with it and discovering the different effects I can create. I was visiting my mom in Del Ray.So no, we are not neighbors.And I do have more shots of this teahouse but like this pic,I don't love them.I really just like the two humorous ones I already posted.Did you see 'It pays to be flexible'? That's much more my style. Thanks for the input everyone.Next time I want real critique and advice I know just where to go.You were all so kind and helpful.. :) PS. Kort have you any shots of the koi?

Thanks Michelle.

Yes, I have quite a few shots of the Koi, but not sure which of them are any good yet. I do have a Koi photo in my gallery, but that was taken somewhere else. Thanks for your explanation...you are doing quite well for only using Photoshop for 2 months...probably better than I was then. :) --Kort

Here is one of the Koi shots I have on my computer at work. Not too happy with it, but not too bad I guess considering the angle you have to shoot from and the conditions of the water.

I know exactly what you mean about the angle and the water.Mine all came out awful.I might have gotten a good one if I knew they sold koi food there...I think I stood at that exact spot!That's where I 'caught' that little black bird.Just to the right.Thanks for sharing! :)

I'm curious about ya'll responses. To me the second photo looks flat - it looks like the contrast needs to be bumped up on the tree in the forground to give it more definition. I can see how one would consider the greens oversaturated if one compared the first picture with the second one, but just as a stand-alone image the lack of contrast in the front tree seems more significant than the saturation of the greens. Maybe it's because I'm looking on a Mac monitor (1.8 gama compared to a 2.2 gamma Windows monitor)???? (Just trying to double-check my eyes...)

I'm on a Mac too...and the tree is a little flat for me too. I don't know if that is why though. :) There was not a lot of contrast in the foreground tree to begin with so adjusting levels probably didn't effect it much and the adjusting of the hue/saturation just probably made it more evident.

i'm not on a mac but my monitor is set a little lighter then most i think, still find the tree a bit odd & it's not the saturation, just mho... but as i said in the gallery the diagonals & horizontals of the compo is what makes the shot & the teahouse itself

wow, I am really late on this one, my apologies to you Marlene, after I asked about your postwork in the gallery. Of course both images have their merits, as everyone has pointed out so I'm not going to go on. I think the original did benefit from some work. I think the building is 10x better, the colours of the wood and the reflection in the deck on the veranda is excellent, though you have lost some detail in the eaves. The only thing in the whole image is the tree leaves, maybe a bit too bright, but people have covered this already. I think the grass is excellent and so is the foliage around the tree trunk. I think the trunk would have been fine left lighter, it doesn't unbalance the image at all, it's a beautiful composition. So overall, it's great, more please :)

Thank you davidy,(is it David?).I do like the reflection on the veranda,too.I didn't realise I lost much detail on the eaves.I suppose I could have left the trunk alone.It was just something I wanted to do. As I've said I have much to learn and all the comments I've received have been very helpful.I have never thought of myself as a photographer.I think I just get lucky sometimes.But one day I'd like to think I can take a decent pic.Right now all I do is find the crop that pleases my eye, play with what I get in PS and hope I get something worthy of sharing. :)

Not a photographer ? :) too late, you are committed now ;) lol. Yup, it's just David, Davidy reads a bit funny I think, should have been more creative when registering. I think you are really brave in photoshop, I hardly use it because I'm soo scared of it! and mucking things up. Keep sharing :)

Thanks David. Yes I guess I am committed now.Photoshop can be daunting but after my initial fear I just decided to try to have fun with it.And I have plenty of 'mucking up' days.More often then not! LOL.Nice to meet you.

Margana,Come back anytime. or just stay. That would be good. I get a lot from these threads to help my work improve. Nice place to be. Like the images. TomDart.