Hi Darren…
One thing I learnt many years ago is that the initial capture is just a starting point, particularly if you are shooting a landscape. Bright skies, and in this instance a bright sea often need to be tempered against the more subtle details within the scene.
If you were working in black-and-white, this would mean a lot of dodging and burning in the darkroom. Nowadays though, we need to take control of these elements in Photoshop.
With this scene there is a lot of engaging detail waiting to be revealed but it is in a rather subdued tonal range that has been overshadowed by highlights in the sky and the water.
Although it is not my standard approach to everything, I do find that a High Dynamic Range (HDR) treatment can be a very good way of holding back highlights and bringing detail into the shadows.
Now, using one technique on its own can sometimes work, and sometimes it can be too much. That is why I often blend another layer with the original layer to tone it down.
To do this, start by opening an image in Photoshop and then duplicate the layer. There are two or three different ways you can do this now, but one simple option is simply to apply all the adjustments you want to make to one layer and use the layer opacity control to fade that layer back.
In the example below I have used Nik Software’s HDR Efex Pro to help bring out the detail in the image. For good measure I have added the original layer back in, to which I have added a hint of the new Oil Painting filter from Photoshop CS6. The blend was made by adjusting the Layer mode to “Screen” and pulling the opacity to 25%.
In the example below, there are some problems with JPEG artefacts because I'm working on a low-rez image. If you have the original high-rez Raw file, this will be a great image to do some exploring with; I think you'll find that once you start exploring with the different filters and HDR effects you will be kept busy with this photograph for days.
Cheers for now, Anthony.
Image Doctor's edited version
