Here is an image I took during a trip to Greece, last year. This is a view of the Kokkori Bridge in the Vikos Gorge which was built in 1750. In this image the riverbed is dry, but it does have water running in it sometimes. The day was overcast and it had been raining a bit but had stopped a couple of hours previously. This image was taken with a Nikon D7200 with a Tamron 18-400 lens at f/6.3 1/640 shutter with an ISO of 800, and a focal length of 18mm.
Post processing was done in Photoshop 2024. I did some initial exposure/color adjustments in a Camera Raw filter. I broke the image into 2 zones, ground, and sky. For the sky I did a dehaze and decreased the exposure a little. I then added a brightness/contrast adjustment layer and decreased brightness masked it so that the shadows on the clouds were increased.
For the foreground, I opened up the shadows, did a dehaze and decreased the exposure and increased the contrast a little. I sharpened some of the details a little on the bridge and the foreground. I used a mask to selectively increase the saturation slightly on parts of the foliage.
10 comments posted
Michael Jack
It appears to my eye you did an excellent bit of post processing. I like the placement of the bridge in the composition. This is a maker's choice decision, but for me I would remove the people on the right and move to the left a bit to include more of the entry walk onto the bridge. Well seen Posted: 02/12/2025 01:26:08
Adi Ben-Senior
I like this picture very much. I am on the same page as Michael but I do think the people add a sense of life and dimension. My comment is about the super magnification zoom range and the optical result. Or is it the edit ?
Posted: 02/13/2025 01:43:59
Bill Peake
Thanks, see my comment below about the fringe. Posted: 02/20/2025 03:40:36
Larry Treadwell
When I first viewed the image what struck me is that the greens are really over-saturated and thus the image takes on an artificial appearance. Once I got over that, I found that overall I mostly liked the composition. What does feel awkward is how the stair case is cut off on the left. I would suggest either backing up several steps or perhaps moving a bit to the left. Finally there is the people issue that Michael brought up. Over the years I've come up with a philosophy that works for me. If I'm photographing a landscape then the people have to go. If the image is for Photo Travel or Photo journalism then I need to include people,usually with their face toward the camera. That just my two cents worth. It comes down to a maker's choice. Posted: 02/15/2025 20:48:35
Bill Peake
As I recall, I think the bus was parked right next to where I was standing, so the was as far to the left as I could get. You're probably right about the greens, I could tone the down a little. Posted: 02/20/2025 03:40:09
Arne Skinlo
An interesting scene of ancient engineering. I like the post processing, but I am also in favour of removing people if they don't add to the story. Posted: 02/16/2025 07:38:15
Bill Peake
Thanks, I've debated about that, but decided to leave them in for scale. Posted: 02/20/2025 03:37:06
Barbara Gore
Hi Bill. What a great location to photograph. The vibrant greens make the image pop for me. I like how the riverbed draws my eye into the scene but I agree with the other comments about the walkway. I generally like people in a landscape scene if they compliment the landscape or make a strong statement for the scene. As Adi mentioned, there is a purple fringe around the edge of the rock on the left. Posted: 02/16/2025 13:01:28
Bill Peake
Thanks, see my comments below. Posted: 02/20/2025 03:36:21
Bill Peake
Thanks for that catch, guys! I totally missed that purple fringe, but once you mentioned it, the thing stands out like a sore thumb. I think its easily fixed, just a mask ajustment. Posted: 02/20/2025 03:35:20
