I am a realist through and through, and I have to say that it doesn't look real to me. I do see neon colors in nature and while they do occur, when they occur, they occur in little bits and dashes and are not dominant. They are usually surrounded by other strong and dominant colors such as dark blues, strong reds and pinks...
Essentially if you could reduce the amount of neon colors, and bring them down in tone, it might look more realistic. Just a thought...
Thank you Renee. I was more concerned about the water effect, but you are right about the colours. Most of my photos are little bit on the colourful side. That can be fixed.
I was wondering about the water relfections - if that looks realistic or if it is too dreamy...
Timmi, I think this has gone too far into the realms of digital art. I'd take Renee's advice and tone the colours down to a more realistic tonal range.
A few comments:
The reflection is an improvement, if a little surreal.
The sun is becoming greenish and overblown so I'd reduce the contrast/glare along with the vibrance of the sky.
You have more red in the water than the sky it's reflecting.
The reflected buildings are a little too dark compared to the real ones.
All in all, your adjusted shot is an improvement and makes the scene look more special.
I have seen many sunsets that look that color. No one would have known (except maybe increased sat.) if would not having the original there in the first place (the sunset colors anyway).
Timmi,
I know you were looking for feedback on the reflection, so here goes...
The ripples themselves look natural, but combined effect with the skyline is to make the whole look like a small model. Let me see if I can verbalize this... the ripples have too long a wavelength, that is, there are too few of them, which my mind tells me is intuitively "wrong", e.g. does not fit my model of reality. Does this make sense??
Next time, don't show the original first. Let them comment on it for a few reply's. You'lll get more accurate opinions that way...
This is very good advice.
Whenever I show the wife a finished photo, she usually loves it. Sometimes, I get really chuffed with my handiwork and try to show her how it was improved. She usually finds some fault in the editing, however tiny.
Thank you all for the great feedback. I had fun playing with the photo. It may not look realistic as much as I tried, but it's not a total basket case either, so I am OK.
