Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens

[mbrager]

These gardens are located in Lethbridge, Alberta. Shot in July 2012 on a very hot summer day.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8305/7987484284_d9ffc4a429_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8170/7987480153_40e0182a93_c.jpg

[edG]

looks like a very peaceful spot - nicely done

[QuietOne]

I like the very clean lines on the second one.

[Marko]

Digging the lines and reflection in shot 2- lovely spot!

[Iguanasan]

Yes, number two is my favourite as well. I hope you don't mind me saying I'm not sure I'm a fan of the processing but I really like the shot.

[Matt K.]

Wonderful. I have been there, and I was not impressed at the time, actually, I was disappointed. Now I begin to think I did not pay attention when I was there. Nicely done, Michael, great processing.

[Runmonty]

I must say I am with Iggy on this one. I really like the scene and the composition. I also like the intent of the processing and the colour chosen. Having said that it, there is something that inst quite working for me. I wonder how split toning would go?

[mbrager]

Comments much appreciated. There was something about the predominantly brown color of the house that led me to sepia processing. Maybe it's a bit overdone. There are so many choices, and we all have individual preferences. I have reedited that shot to selenium coloring. Comments welcome. I can't decide myself which I like more.

1. Reedit
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8441/8004919432_1eb5961e10_c.jpg

[QuietOne]

I like the reedit better, but mostly because the color is cleaner. I wasn't sure of the processing on the first one, either, but because at least on my monitor, your sepia had a strong rosy pink cast. Any chance you could nudge it to a more neutral brown?

[Runmonty]

I think I prefer the 2nd one as well.

[Marko]

To my eye version 1 was too red. 'sepia' is one of those colours that people interpret differently. For me it should be closer to brown versus reddish or burgundy. My personal interpretation of how I like to see sepia is a light brown, but that's just me and it comes from when I manually toned my images in a sepia bath.
here's what wikipedia calls sepia Photographic print toning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepia_tone#Sepia_toning)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Photograph.sept1895.jpg/200px-Photograph.sept1895.jpg

- this bluish version is much better imo. Now the reflections are really starting to sing.
I might try to up the contrast a wee bit here - i think that would make it sing even louder.
Hope that may help despite our personal opinions :)

[Runmonty]

I hope you dont mind, but as you have indicated that you dont mind people editing your images I have just had a quick play with your image. All I did was apply a gradient map with a photographic preset (sepia 1) to the selenium version. I hope I am not out of line.

As you have indicated, everyones tastes are diffferent, and I will not be offended if it doesnt work for you. Just another option that is all.

16181.

[JAS_Photo]

That's actually an interesting duo toning, Runmonty. It is a very well composed, sharp image and looks good in a variety of interpretations.