Last updated on January 18th, 2017 at 06:37 am
Sydney, Australia is a special place for me, because that is where I asked Mrs. Jeffsetter to marry me in 2011. In looking for photos to use in today’s Photo Friday, I thought it would be fun to feature one of the photos we took in Sydney and Cairns during that 2011 trip.
It turns out we were not the greatest photographers back then (still aren’t the greatest today, but definitely getting better). As I looked through photos to post, I was surprised to see that pretty much all photos of the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge were not very appealing to the eye. There were clouds in every picture and everything was washed out.
What do you do when your photos just don’t look very good? Well, I suppose the easiest thing to do is not post them on the Internet. That was my first intention with today’s photo Friday. Then I decided not to give up so easily and see if I could make adjustments that would make the photo look decent.
I increased the contrast, definition and shadows of the photo to give it a look that was almost black and white. Then lightened the area around the opera house using a circle brush to bring out the white color of the building (the circle is almost too noticeable, but I liked the effect). After tweaking, I am pleased with the result enough to post the photo here.
For those of you curious, here is how the photo looked when it came out of the camera:
It’s obviously the same photo setting, but it’s just an average shot. The Opera house looks more yellow than white (which reflects real life, where the opera house has a yellow tint) and the clouds look dark but not nearly as ominous. As a bonus, the building to the right is almost entirely removed from the photo by bringing up the contrast.
What do you think? Do you find the new photo more appealing than the original? Is this a worthy salvage job for the photo or should I go back to Australia and take some better shots?
I prefer original picture better, but that’s a matter of personal taste. It always brings back such wonderful memories, even if there are ominous clouds over the opera house. Sydney is a beautiful place, and I’d go back to visit again if I could.