Another New Hobby: Photoshop

I have a new love and it's name is photoshop. Sorry Justin! (Oh, and I'll also need to take over your computer for hours on end, since it's not downloaded on mine. Thanks!) I have been playing around quite a bit with just one particular photo and I'm really excited about the results I've been getting. Justin and I both love this photo that we took in the Valley of Fire. I think I blogged about it sometime last year. Well, this photo just got a face lift! I have 6 different varieties of the photo to show you and please let me know which one you like best. The first picture at the top is the original. Now let's get into the remakes!

1.

So this was my first creation. I like the added color that it gave the rock and the sky. It was just the Auto-Fix button on Photoshop, so it didn't really require a lot of creativity from me. How can something be a hobby if you have a computer do the work for you? And if you click on the picture and make it bigger you can see a tiny magenta dot at the peak of one of the mountains. I have no idea where it came from, or how to fix it.

2.

Second attempt, this is one of Justin's favorites. I really wanted to get a more dramatic sky in this one. So I added more blue and more contrast to the sky. I think it looks like a stormy night and I like it, but it kind of takes all the drama away from the rocks, which is what this picture was about to start with.

3.

My third attempt. Here I got into googling how to do certain things on photoshop and I think it really made a difference. This version helped me to understand a few more technical elements of the program. I think the color is so vivid that the photo looks somewhat surreal. I personally love this version. I like the sharpness of everything and I think the sky adds some calmness to the photo.

4.

Neither Justin nor I were a big fan of this one. It appears washed out after the vivid color of #3. I can see using this technique that I used to bright up some food or people's faces, but it just doesn't do justice to the landscape here.

5.

Alright, my black and white attempt. I wasn't really excited about doing this photo in black and white because I think the color of the rocks is what makes this photo amazing, but I was actually somewhat impressed with this version. I think it is a nice change and it certainly has some drama to it. I'm excited to use this technique on a photo that doesn't rely so much on color.

6.

My final attempt, thus far, sepia/vintage. I really like this version, mainly because of the texture that I gave it. Throughout the journey of playing with this photo, I have been discovering new tricks and tools to play with and I can't wait to use this one again. I have always wondered how photographers gave their photos such interesting textures and now I'm on my way to finding out all those secrets!

Ok, those were my versions of our Valley of Fire photo. Tell me, which was your favorite?