Dead Sea Shoreline

This isn't wide enough to gain my interest, but that's just me. I'd like to see an even slower shutter and wider FOV if possible (understanding that this is an older photo )

Basically this image lacks from proper printing. It's a nice image. In this print I used a graduated mask to print down the mids in the foreground. I also did a little sharpening.

I assume Jetcode uses the word "printing" instead of "processing".... I don't think his version adds anything but a bit of sharpening. I find the colours and shades in the original better than in the processed one.
But the image lacks something. It needs the caption ("Dead Sea shore") to make it interesting and would otherwise be totally uninteresting. Nothing really catches the eye.

The color never changed. Saturation increased because I printed down the mids. Processing is for computer scientists. Printing is for photographers. This is not an invention it is industry standard language.

My guess is you are viewing this on a laptop or some other marginal monitor.

Printing is what I used to do in my darkroom until 20 years ago when I went digital.... I hardly ever print anymore - leave that to my wife when she thinks one of my shots is interestingly enough for her wall ...
My monitor is calibrated and Jetcode is right - the colours haven't changed but the impression they create changed. As this must have been a sunny day I think the original is more natural for the harsh light you find on the Dead Sea shore (as I remember it when I was there on a sunny day).

I am finding that monitors (high tech answer to print paper) deviate dramatically. When I use Photoshop I am still using dark room printing techniques. All the terms are near equivalents: burn, dodge, masks, contrast, gamma, unsharp mask (two images slightly offset highlighting edges). I knew a couple of darkroom printers who were hardcore and they produced amazing prints. It also took them a week or two to get an image dialed in. Some would use negative stacks that they printed (layers). By the way the burning down of the mids in this scene is similar in effect to using a polarizer.

I like it being sharper. However, all that salt dissolved in the water creates a certain "milky" effect which I was trying to preserve, I'm afraid your edit makes it appear too translucent.

Why not just sharpen the rocks and leave the water alone?

Qbx wrote in post #16553979
Why not just sharpen the rocks and leave the water alone?

Agree - that's what I'd do; make an adjustment layer for just the rocks where they are the only objects being sharpened as you "erase away" that layer. The rest of the milky water will remain unaffected.

I used high pass sharpening so the water was essentially untouched while the rocks and land strip were affected most. This was simply a demonstration of gaining clarity in the image foreground. The milky effect is still there but is less visible because it is no longer being saturated by high noon lighting.

jetcode wrote in post #16555065
I used high pass sharpening so the water was essentially untouched while the rocks and land strip were affected most. This was simply a demonstration of gaining clarity in the image foreground. The milky effect is still there but is less visible because it is no longer being saturated by high noon lighting.

There's also something else going on with water and mountains, they appear darker / bluer on my monitor...

So here's the final edit, with only the rocks in the forefront sharpened

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …77380157@N06/11​576235764/

Did you get something out of this critique? Seems like you were looking for approval rather than critique.

If you're using LR, I think you can improve on this by pulling a -.7 grad filter up from the bottom to take the edge off the rocks. Still too much highlight reflection going on there.

jetcode wrote in post #16556380
Did you get something out of this critique? Seems like you were looking for approval rather than critique.

Not really, I was looking for the ways to make it better and I liked what you did to the rocks in the foreground, I just wanted to maintain the warmer color and sort of milky appearance of the water in the background, as it's one of the main characteristics of this place - the water is not like any salt water I saw before, it's really something different, more like oil or lotion.

So I do appreciate critique, and try to learn from it.

BigSkyKen wrote in post #16556392
If you're using LR, I think you can improve on this by pulling a -.7 grad filter up from the bottom to take the edge off the rocks. Still too much highlight reflection going on there.

Ok, let me try this - is this enough ? Trying to not overdo it:

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …77380157@N06/11​586833516/