Well, Isn’t That Dramatic?

I love a good drama. I took this image from Solomon’s Temple in the Peak District:

ISO 640 21mm f/18 1/200sec

It was a bit of a spine-tingling moment. The skies were about to open up, so it was cool and calm, but you could feel the storm. Then there was the added tension of the fire, how bad is it? what’s going on over there? It wasn’t possible to answer those questions. From that original file, I created this:

ISO 640 21mm f/18 1/200sec

I wanted both the colors to pop and the light and dark to contrast in this edit. To achieve this first I lightened the shadows, then I moved the whites slider up and the darks slider down. I used the luminance sliders to increase the green, yellow, and orange tones. The photo also has a corner-darkening vignette on it.

All pretty standard edits for my workflow.  It also represents my favorite type of editing, subtle and true to the original scene.  I’m looking to accentuate the drama that was there while still maintaining a photo that looks real. Do you like the result? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Cheers!

Added to Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Favorite Things.