[Rabid Penguin]

Took this photo tonight. It's okay, although it's a little... lacklustre.

Any ideas to make it better?

[NT73]

As it stands, it looks like a flash photograph.
You could try darkening it or changing the colour of the building, and maybe bringing the green of the grass out a bit.
Or maybe you prefer it as it is. We all see things in a different way.

[matthew]

Here's my take on it:



I sharpened it, added an orton (blur+overlay) layer, and a "poster edges" layer at 30% opacity to bring out the ridge detail. I then used the "lens correction" filter to adjust the building lean, and rotated it a bit. (photoshop is fun.) I then cropped it down to 2x3 to remove some of the sky.

[Zig]

Actually, I'd go the other way: converge those verticals even more for that Gothicity(?)....am printing my wedding invites at the mo but might chip in later....

[Zig]

Weddings invites are wedding invites. We're talking creativity here.

I was reminded of snow by your image, so this sort of got me going; I inverted, cropped(after converging verticals a bit more), then dodged and burnt to increase contrast and detail, later converting to greyscale before using the blur tool and diffusion filter to work at the edges. I used some more dodge+burn to simulate snow and add grass detail, adding a grey grad and dodging to white the resulting grey areas.

[Irma]

I was thinking along these lines....





Hope you like it...

[NT73]

A secret graffiti artist eh?

It has warmed it up a bit which I like, but the pink by the left window looks a bit OTT
And Toads is very different.
They both improve the original in my opinion.

[matthew]

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I'm the literalist of the group. Here's a different take on the problem:



I just photographed the computer screen with my lensbaby.

[Irma]

Thanks NT.

I downloaded some graffiti brushes time ago and I was wondering when to use them. I think this picture gave me the idea when to use them...

Matt, that was clever!!

[Rabid Penguin]

Yeah, you're right about the flash NT. I had the shutter on bulb, and had just started it, when it started to spit, so I was like #(*#@$*!!!! and grabbed a flash and started running around 'painint' the building with it. I just managed to get everything packed up again before it started pouring.

[NT73]

I should have known a flash gun would not reach to the far end.:/

[Keith Alan]

Subtle changes--rotation/crop, some contrast enhancement using unsharp mask, and color balance in a grass selection for more green.
Choosing the right amount of feathering for each selection was key.

Did anyone else see the power lines?

[Irma]

No, I can't see them. Where are they?

Nice treatment Keith...

[Keith Alan]

There are power lines hiding in the darkness on the right side.
I had to crank levels really hard to see them--I was looking for clouds.

The main thing I would do with this scene is shoot it again with a longer exposure and less artificial light.
Bring out some sky that way, and get more unnatural colors to make it more unique and interesting.

[Don Schaeffer]

It's too normal. Try tilting it.