Hand held shot, rested P&S cam on rail of balcony.
The lights on the beach are Tiki Torches (which explains the irregular shapes..)
Proud of this for that if nothing else :)
Before PP:
Edits:
->crop
->duplicate layer
->shadow / highlight on duplicate
->set duplicate layer to lighten 43%-91%
->Copy merged background and duplicate without selective color
->Paste
->Smart Sharpen on pasted layer
->Set new layer to normal 80% 81%
->Copy merged on all three image layers, without selective color
->Paste
->Unsharp Mask on new layer - strong -
->Set new layer to normal 84% 62%
->Noise Ninja on all four image layers
->Selective color adj. layer
->Resize. (smooth gradients..)
->Duplicate bg layer on top of everything
->Set layer mode to pin light - 80% 90%
->Duplicate bg layer on top of everything
->Set layer mode to luminosity - 50% 49%
->Copy Merged
->Adj. layer, selective color
->Spot edit (burn & paintbrush & clone) to remove halos and other minor distractions.
-> Select All
-> Copy merged
-> Pasted to new layer
-> Color Adjusted
-> History brush on couch to restore redness
-> Opacity/Fill Adjustment to Balance @ closest to reality (as I remember it... Can't quite seem to get enough magic into the photo though... Sigh.)
->Resize. (smooth gradients..)
->Slight Dodge on Couch, increase sat on couch to enhance redness.
->Dodge and burn on central tree to fix lens flare from torch
->Dodge and burn on stars to fix asymmetry caused by resize
->Save for Web
Post Challenge:
Thanks to everyone who left such wonderful comments, and an even more important thanks to Bear_Music, Ja-9, and yakatme for their help in choosing a PP'd version, and PP tips that really helped me make the most of this image.
Statistics
Place: 303 out of 445 Avg (all users): 5.4730 Avg (commenters): 6.3000 Avg (participants): 5.4167 Avg (non-participants): 5.6939 Views since voting: 1276 Views during voting: 373 Votes: 241 Comments: 27 Favorites: 0
Sorry about the wait for your critique, this is coming out of the backlog!
Wow you did a wonderful job on the PP! I thought it was nice when I saw it during voting but now I can truly appreciate how much work you put into it. For which I might add you did not receive a fair score.
Too bad you didn't have a chance to capture this with your DSLR, I think it would have reduced the noise and made it a little sharper. That's all that I can really see that could be improved in this picture.
Just remembered to check this as I'm judging the side-challenge entries, and I have to say I'm surprised the score's that low. Still, you learned a lot, and that's what matters :-)
Just saw this in the posted Outtakes what it looked like before - Wha!!!???? I can't figure out why this placed so far down? Fabulous job in PP as I said before this is a fabulous travel shot that looks like it could appear in a travel brochure - I certainly enjoyed the beauty of the place shown in the shot ( I am one of your 8's). Hmmmm, maybe the reason it placed low is because of monitor calibration - others might have seen it as too dark? (I hate varying calibrations because you never know *exactly* how others are going to see it)
That's pretty brave to enter a P&S image in a best of challenge. I like the color spread of the foreground fire light and the deep blue of the sky in this. Glad you got to go there to get this shot. I was at Little Torch Key later that week for the sport lobster season.
Excellent postcard view of Isla. Moon and its reflextion always is an eye opener. The red love seat in this ebvening shot accents its romantic setting because it implies one of its purpose - "enjoying the night air"
Wow, this is a great travel shot - I could see this in a magazine advertising the resort and the place. Very captivating night scene by the beach. Love the colors and hues and everything in the shot is well illuminated so I can really appreciate the details (i.e. the palm fronds in the palm tree are quite visible rather that appearing as a black silhouette) You exposed this picture quite right - it is neither underexposed in areas or overexposed; it's perfect. And I absolutely love the moon clearly seen drifting by the clouds and the starry sky! Bumping up a notch - 8.
Add photograph to your favorites
Add photographer to your favorites
Photographer found comment helpful.
