Project 22: An Improvement in the Weather

Back to landscapes, with which I'm far more comfortable!

For this project, I was required to find a photograph that was taken on a dull day, and make 'digital' improvements to the weather. 

Here is the start image, taken from Bournemouth beach on an overcast day:

It lacks contrast and impact, and definitely needs an improvement of some description, so it seemed like an ideal candidate. Here is the final result:


To achieve this, I created two duplicate layers. On the top layer, I worked on the sea and foreground, increasing the overall saturation (less so on the reds, which became too bright) and boosting the Levels. I then used the colour balance sliders to weight the colours towards red and yellow, which gave a warmer tone.

On the middle layer, I made similar adjustments, but this time I used the colour balance sliders to introduce more blue and cyan. On the background layer, which I just used for the cliffs in the distance, I darkened the image considerably.

I then erased the top part of the photo from the top layer, and the cliffs from both layers 1 and 2. The final image definitely has a warmer, brighter feel to it. If I was being picky, I'd say that perhaps it's slightly too far weighted towards the red part of the spectrum - more yellow and green may have helped to balance this out.



I also tried using another technique to brighten up a photo - the 'match colour' facility.

Here is the original photo:

Here it is after using the 'match colour' process, and some alterations to the saturation, vibrance, levels and curves:

The final result has a bit of a 'surreal' feel to it, but I like it. The source image for the colour match was one that I took with the forthcoming Assignment 4 in mind: