1st Image Edited properly in Lightroom 5 - Landscape, English Countryside

Hello there, after an age spending time learning how to use my D3200 to it's full extent I finally have a photo that I (personally) am quite proud of, mostly in the editing though, since Lightroom is quite a daunting program to use as a noob!

Basically, it is a landscape shot looking down onto "Whitnash Recreation Ground", with Leamington Spa Golf Club visible to the left, and In the far distance there is "Chesterton Windmill" but I think my editing may have abolished it somehow! It was tiny and barely visible anyway. This is in quite a rural part of South Warwickshire (country slap bang in the middle of England, far away from the sea) and is 10 miles northwest of Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford-Upon-Avon. I say this because it is much more well known than my home-town, Leamington Spa!

I shot it using the kit lens (I also have the Nikkor 55 - 300mm F4.5-5.6 VR) but I haven't had a lot of time using that since I got it for Christmas.

18mm F-Length
1/400sec
ISO 400
3.6 Aperture

I mainly edited this photo using the enhancement brush in Lightroom 5, mostly increasing the exposure in the sky, leaving some vibrant colours that I'm quite happy with! I showed some mates and they did comment on the "uriney" colour near the horizon, I did not really notice this 1st, but I see where they are coming from! The grass in the front I decreased exposure, increased clarity and sharpness. Overall I decreased shadow areas. With the yellow heath like grass I increased temperature, zeroed contrast, decreased highlights, increased shadows, clarity and saturation. Sharpness was also set to 100. I kind of like the unnaturalness of the yellow and green grass, believing it changes the subject of the image slightly?

Any tips for me, I'm not fond of the whole white speckly bits near the trees, I believe this is due to the enhancement brush being set onto "Auto Mask" which is what I did to stop it from increasing the exposure of the trees making them really dark and unnatural.

Thanks for the help, I will attach the original photo as well.

Well I guess it depends on what sort of effect you're looking for with this shot. In my opinion it looks way over-processed and other-worldly, but maybe that's what you're after?

If it were my shot I'd straighten that horizon line, play with the contrast and saturation a bit and leave it at that. But that's me what I see in this shot is an idyllic landscape sort of thing. The shot is a little tricky to work with because you've got some blown-out highlights in the sky in the upper right corner. I did punch up the shot a little and came up with what you see below. I think it's much more in keeping with reality but again, I don't pretend to know what you want out of this particular shot.

For me the colours look better in the foreground on the second one but I prefer the original sky.

As someone who has come to the digital darkroom running full speed screaming, "Oh my Lord, that is SOOOOO cool", only to recant all such testimony less than 2 years later, let me say that I totally understand your excitement. There are quite a few people stretching the reality of landscape imaging that to finally find something of your own that you're pleased with is a major accomplishment, and for that I stand with you and congratulate you.

OK, so now comes the part that agrees with the other folks. Your original photo really doesn't need a lot of additional processing. It's got good color, nice sky and just enough to keep things interesting. If I were want to do anything it would be to cut some of the heat coming from the right, which I'd do with a gradient adjustment from the upper right corner. I don't have an issue with the horizon, as HF does, since the trees are all vertical. Otherwise my edits would be very similar to his. Here's a screen shot of exactly how I'd apply a single gradient to your shot...



From there, it's all minor tweaking. Recognize the times where nature has given you a canvas that needs to be reproduced and not improved upon. Or not. After all, it's your art. But truth be told, the edit is a little garish.

Wow, I'm so happy with this response! Thank you!

Right, I'm flagging this thread so I have it saved for my own usage in future edits.

When I started editing it, I wasn't a fan of the sky, I personally thought it was a little to light and washed out? Maybe I'm wrong, hence why I increased the exposure. I think I should probably not do it to the extent that I did, maybe a tiny bit. Ahh gradient adjustment, I did not see/think of that option, I will definitely use that in the future, looks 'ahem' very useful. So does straightening the horizon line, I was using a tripod, since it was quite muddy on that hill I was standing on, and my tripod is about 50 years, from my grandfathers old pro-photographer days.

My reasoning for going all out with the enhancement brush on this photo was just experimenting really, seeing what would happen! Has anybody got any tips for using it? Is there a certain nack for it's usage? Also, I do not have any "really" interesting photos', this one stood out due to the decent light levels overall in the image.

That screenshot is very useful, the problem with being new to Photoshop & Lightroom is that they seem to be so confusing when you start using them!

We learn when we experiment, and many a wonderful discovery was made as a part of failing to do something else. So don't ever be afraid to stretch. You may wander for a while, but at some point you'll find a place where you and your audience are happy. I don't believe in catering to an audience, but I do believe that even the most avant garde artist needs at least one fan, so when you lose everyone realize you need to adjust.