Agra Fort, India - how to fix this photo??

I like the composition and subject matter of this photo, but, try as I might, I can't seem to get the post-processing right - the contrast, saturation, etc. all seem wrong.

Any suggestions on how to fix it? Does it need more saturation, less saturation, more contrast, black-and-white/other monochrome conversion? Feel free to experiment on the image, too.

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Shadowblade, this is a very nice image. Nice framing/composition. Great subject. Only minor tweaks seem useful here.

A very moderate rotation to the left and a slight camera distortion adustment to square things up helped. Bringing the highlights down a bit or mild application of the recovery slider in LR3 helps to bring detail back into the bright portions of the image (especially the stonework and awning in the bottom third of the photo. Bumping the tint control just off center (away from green) helped a bit with achieving a slightly more natural look. I at first thought to leave it alone, but cloning out a tiny portion of the tower awning that "touches" the stone window framing on the left to let just a tiny bit of sky show through between them helped make the tower look more centered in the window frame.

I sounds like a lot, but each of the above changes is very slight. This is an image that displays nicely as is. There are no major mods necessary to improve it. Great work!

Regards,
Mark

What do you mean by rotation to the left and distortion adjustment? As far as I can tell, the verticals are, well, vertical...

Nice image I just did a quick look at the opening on the left, lined it up with my screen, and the whole image is slightly off axis. You can use the crop tool in PS just as a quick guide to see it better.

Looks good to me....when in doubt, try different settings. I would increase the local contrast to bring out details:

Shadowblade, what Imagemogul meant was that the picture is .5 degrees tilted to the right. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but with all of the straight edges it is. I didn't have much time to work on this but I did do a bit. I found that working with the window area and the buildings in the background separately was easiest. I created a layer with just the center buildings and one with everything else, I then edited them separately.

Shadowblade,

I have committed a sin by unthinkingly making tint/WB and brightness settings while viewing on my at-work monitor. Please forgive... It is a Dell 22" in reasonable calibration, but it is not as accurate as my monitor at home. Please disregard those suggestions as the small suggested changes could be due to slight inadequacies in this monitor's cal. The other suggestions still stand. Your web gallery is fabulous. I wish I had access to such exotic locales.

Regards,
Mark

is that picture straight out of the camera?

Spike44 wrote in post #13297504
Looks good to me....when in doubt, try different settings. I would increase the local contrast to bring out details:

... via Clarity slider, or ...?

Thanks for the input - don't think I've ever had more trouble with a single photo!

I've uploaded an updated edit and attached it to the initial post - how does it look? Oversaturated? Too contrasty? Too bright in the shadows? Too much of a green tint?

Updated edit again - any better?

Shadow, I like what you've done with the place... Not much left to criticize, really. I will say that after looking at and comparing your current edit with the original posted image, it seemed to me that somewhat of a combination of the two might be a good way to go. It seemed that with the most current edit, the window/frame didn't showcase the bright, beautiful, colorful scene outside as well as it could, because the window/frame's brightness and tint seemed to blend in with (rather than accent) the scene. I left everything inside the frame exactly as your current edit. I desaturated the window opening/frame a bit - and darkened it some - similar to your original. It seemed to add contrast and draw more attention to the main subject outside the window while still retaining detail in it. You, of course, have the advantage of actually having been there which makes you the final authority on what looks right and what doesn't. Your edits are tasteful and do not look overdone at all. When you are done, this will be a great image to add to your gallery.

Shadowblade wrote in post #13297091
Your current edit:

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Possibility:

Updated, again - better?

I first took this photo 3 years go, kept trying to process it, but ended up putting it into the 'too hard' basket and left it until recently.

Seems like a great composition, but it's hard to make it interesting without making it over-the-top and looking like a painting or cartoon, rather than a photo.

You could always convert it to B&W

traveltrousers wrote in post #13314665
You could always convert it to B&W

Black and white seemed to work to an extent, but I think the colours are one of the standout features of the scene.