‘Mighty Glencoe’ - Glencoe, Glen Coe, Lochaber, Scotland, UK
photo by Silviu Dascalu
website - https://www.silviudascalu.com/
original image - https://i.redd.it/guxo3pdw0vw71.jpg
Scotland again. Green hills again. Overcast skies again. Wonder if they get any sun over there?
Well, if I had to have clouds, I thought I could at least recover some detail from them. And I fixed the color balance, and pushed the blacks some more.
Tolbachik Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia
photo by Daniel Kordan
website - https://danielkordan.com/
original image - http://danielkordan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/DSC_1173.jpg
I love it how an unexpected detail can make a photo. Ostensibly, this is a photo of the Tolbachik Volcano, and sure, there it is in the background, sitting pretty. But the real star is the grass in the lake. It's what makes the photo stand out. That, and the beautiful colors. Daniel Kordan, whose photos I really like, can be quite heavy-handed in Photoshop, but here I think he hit just the right balance.
But as usual, I felt the need for some more darkness, so there.
‘Coldai Cauldron’ - Lago Coldai, Alleghe, Veneto region, Italy
photo by Ted Gore
website - http://www.tedgorecreative.com/
original image - https://live.staticflickr.com/7399/26957075213_c9046b7af5_o.jpg
I just... couldn't. It was just too pink. It had to go. Other than that, it's a beautiful landscape and a wonderfully atmospheric photo.
As mentioned, got rid of the pink.
Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales, UK
photo by Dorin Vancea
website - https://unsplash.com/@dvancea
original image - https://unsplash.com/photos/kKDPBa5GmT4
This is one of my favorite landscapes. So simple and unassuming, but the longer you look at it, the more you realize how perfectly balanced it is. Great composition which just draws your eyes in, great lighting, muted colors that are simultaneously dramatic and relaxing. I like just about everything about it.
Usually I remove things like cars on the road, but even they work perfectly here, giving small scale detail to the photo. So I left it alone.
‘Kolyma Gold’ - Jack London Lake, Kolyma, Russia
photo by Daniel Kordan
website - https://danielkordan.com/
original image - https://danielkordan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/DJI_0585-Pano%D0%BE%D0%BE.jpg
Another photo by Daniel Kordan. I love the warm glow here, so satisfying.
I fixed the general levels and increased sharpness a little.
Salt lake Dus-Khol' in the evening, Tuva Republic, Russia
photo by Alexander Leshchenok
website - https://35photo.pro/alx1/
original image - https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/%D0%9E%D0%B7%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BE_%D0%94%D1%83%D1%81-%D0%A5%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C_%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BC._%D0%A2%D0%B5%D1%81-%D0%A5%D0%B5%D0%BC%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B6%D1%83%D1%83%D0%BD.jpg
The strange red grass and the fact that there are really only the primary colors - yellow, red and blue - in this photo is what caught my eye.
So, I brought them out some more, and darkened and sharpened the photo somewhat.
‘Laguna Quilotoa in the Blue Hour’ - Laguna Quilotoa, Ecuadorian Andes, Ecuador
photo by Joe Orsi
website - https://www.instagram.com/SkyPacking/
original image - https://i.redd.it/89qn50klwm671.jpg
It's a lake. In a crater. A... crater lake. I like the cool atmosphere.
I brought some color back in, because it was too obviously colorized. Still mostly blue, but there are some cyans now (the lake isn't the same monochrome as the clouds), and some warmer colors. Also, ditched the vignette.
Königsee, Berchtesgadener National Park, Bavaria, Germany
photo by ragdoll20
website - https://www.reddit.com/user/ragdoll20/
original image - https://i.redd.it/20e1sumgs0y51.jpg
Nice calming atmosphere similar to this.
I only fixed the general image balance so that whites aren't grey and increased sharpness.
