Banff Avenue

[Stecyk]

A shot taken from near the Administration Building looking down on Banff Avenue toward Cascade Mountain in Banff National Park. Banff Avenue is the main thoroughfare.

[r_fredrick_smith]

I think it needs to have the contrast pumped. Here is one example:



Cheers,
rfs

[Stecyk]

Originally Posted by r_fredrick_smith

I think it needs to have the contrast pumped.

That's an unusual comment for me because I am sometimes told that I use too much contrast and/or saturation.

My guess is that you were making the mountain clearer, more pronounced with a heavy dose of contrast?

I find that when I do that, my pictures look a bit unnatural.

Here's another example of a photograph that I took in Banff of the Bow River.



Two quick comments:

1) The water looks overly saturated, yet nothing special was done to the water. I treated the water, trees, and mountains the same.

2) You'll note that the mountains look washed out here too. But when I increase the contrast on the mountains, they look unnatural. At least to me they do.

[PhotosbyChuck]

The mountains lack contrast due to their distance. I think you're right tho in that that makes them more "real" in your photo. Selectively applying contrast to the sky and mountains (to attempt to match the water and trees) gives a nice picture, but it seems to lack the depth of your original.

I played a bit with backing down the contrast, but really I think I like your hazy mountains best. Here is the best I got at enhancing their contrast.

[Stecyk]

Thank you for your comment and your adaptation of the photograph.

One of the challenges is that the foreground treetops looked a bit singed. I find working around trees difficult.

[Arbib]

Even though the Mountains may look unnatural when you add contrast. the final result may more pleasing as a whole..I like the 2nd picture better., The Water and Sky and Mountain are more evenly connected....

But with any landscape, some like this type of Post, and others like that type of Post. The 2nd one is more of a "postcard" than the 1st. Most "Postcard" type landscapes are a little over contrasty and saturated..So, the general tendency is like what we are used to seeing already...It ain't right..but a fact never the less.

It is a lovely view btw.

[PhotosbyChuck]

Originally Posted by Stecyk

Thank you for your comment and your adaptation of the photograph.

One of the challenges is that the foreground treetops looked a bit singed. I find working around trees difficult.

That only happened as a result of my hasty work. With careful selections, you should get a much better result. Like Arbib says, the added contrast makes the image more even ... and you might prefer that if you can find a happy medium between real and contrasty.

[Stecyk]

Originally Posted by Arbib

Even though the Mountains may look unnatural when you add contrast. the final result may more pleasing as a whole..I like the 2nd picture better., The Water and Sky and Mountain are more evenly connected....

But with any landscape, some like this type of Post, and others like that type of Post. The 2nd one is more of a "postcard" than the 1st. Most "Postcard" type landscapes are a little over contrasty and saturated..So, the general tendency is like what we are used to seeing already...It ain't right..but a fact never the less.

It is a lovely view btw.

Yeah, this type of shot is difficult to judge. I prefer the earlier version. To me, it seems less garish. And the earlier photo is not without its own garishness with the water looking excessively vibrant. Interesting how we all have different takes on the same image.