Balancing the landscaping

[Jleon99]

I think this shot is beautiful balance of natural color without edit it.
Should I enhance color or contrast?



Nikon D3100
55mm
f8
1/250
Suggestions are welcome.

[John C]

I think it needs a little adjustment to the contrast - the highlight colors seem a little washed out. I'm not sure what would be best to adjust although I would probably start with a 'curves' adjustment, assuming your editing software has that function.

A more obvious problem is the tilted horizon, which should be straightened. Overall, I like the juxtaposition of the water, buildings, and islands of greenery. However, the horizon is set too low. The sky with the purple clouds is interesting but not as interesting as the land. If the photo had been composed with a higher horizon, the fronts of the buildings in the foreground would not have been cut off. The purple clouds nicely offset the orange roofs. Just some thoughts.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Javier,

I am a firm believer that ALL photo's need some editing, that said, this one, in respect of color enhancement and contrast, looks OK as it is, as you say.

My thoughts on this one are largely in agreement with John's (and that was before I read his). Especially on the sky/ground ratio and the chopped off foreground buildings.

Assuming you cannot widen the angle of view a bit (was it a fixed 55mm lens?), tilting the camera down to include more foreground might then require a perspective adjustment.

However, I do think it is over exposed and the detail is blown on the white buildings (some might be recoverable from the RAW). If the exposure was brought down, that might have an adverse effect on those things though and then they might need some small adjustment.

Hope that's helpful,