[sage]

This was a color photo.

This photo of the sun in the mist of fiery smoke was from a time when the air was yellow and smelt of ashes and fires were burning all across the state. Why doesn't it convey some of that? What could I have done better with a Fuji and no lenses?

I don't see a place to check; but if editing helps to explain your example, go for it. Please keep it simple with no large words for the techno illiterate!

[stepheno]

Hi Sage. Well to me there is nothing there that distinguishes it from the sun behind clouds. I think you need something else in the shot to identify the situation such as some of the ground with a flame or two.

[Rob Barron]

Yup, I agree with Stephen. It is easy to put this into one, totally non-technical word: CONTEXT.

A picture needs context if we are to understand what is happening and although your text tells us this is smoke, there is nothing in the picture itself that would have told us that. Flames tell us where smoke is coming from but it needn't just be a fire to help with the context. It could be that you include something in the BG that shows this smoke is originating from ground level (you have to get down VERY low to do that in this case) or you could time the shot to include some obvious ashes in the smoke.

Well done for looking at your own picture critically, realising that it isn't capturing what you had intended and then looking to find out why. That is definitely the way to learn

I haven't pimped this shot (the place to confirm you are happy for people to edit your shots is in your personal control Panel - click on UserCP on the 2nd blue button bar from the top of this page. When you get there, select 'Edit Profile' (on left of page) and scroll down to the bottom. The last option has a check box that says 'Please click if you are happy to have other members edit and repost your photos with the sole intention of helping.' Check that box and then your done.

When you post on threads in future, you'll get a button with IMAGE-EDIT and a tick under your name.

Cheers,
Rob

[sage]

Thanks, but this photo was shot almost straight up and there was only a yellow noxious bubble surrounding you otherwise. This was about noon and conditions during that time are impossible to describe. There was no visibility beyond a few feet before and aft.

Thanks for the attempts and for the photo edit information!

[Gary Bagshawe]

If you have photoshop try turning down the levels very low, it will darken the image and saturate the colours more.
example:-

[Rob Barron]

A good way to increase the strength of an image in Photoshop is to do the following:

1. Copy image to new layer (Ctrl+J)
2. Change blending mode to 'Multiply'
3. If the effect is too strong, reduce the opacity of the top layer to the level you prefer.
4If it isn't strong enough, simply copy the original onto a 3rd layer and change the blending mode as before.

Examples below.

Cheers,
Rob

With one copy layer blended with Multiply mode:



With 2 layers, both with Multiply blending mode:



Note: Nothing else has been done, no cloning, adjusting of curves or anything. This is a VERY EASY method to get greater depth and contrast into your shots

[Charlotte]

Hi sage + welcome to pixalo.

The brightness is much too high + contrast too low. Had a play: Adjusted levels to reduce contrast (all the tones were in the highlight region in the histogram, so I brought the markers in to meet each end of the tones), and a subtle clone over the burnt highlight on the sun, also a bit of noise reduction.

Because you were shooting into the sun, there's a lot of flare + it's very high contrast. A difficult one to shoot.



Edit: Saw how many artefacts my pimp had And saw your suggestions + examples Rob, nice job I still felt the brightness/contrast needed more of a tweak, so I tried a combination of your method with mine, i.e. added layers (multiply) and also a very slight levels adjustment. This is one I don't think we're going to get quite right, it's just too high contrast, I mean the clouds now look so dark it looks like night time. I give up. I tried so hard 'cos I really like the shapes within the image, but working with such a small file is not helping. Anyway, thanks for the tip on layers + blend modes Rob, it's definitely a less destructive way than a levels adjustment on its own.

Sage, I think you have a few ideas to work with on your original image

[sage]

Thanks for all the assistance, I appreciate it and have filed it under Notes in my camera files. I have Paint shop Pro, not Photo shop; but I do have Elements 5 so will give that a try next time.

Just a short note about that time... 2004 fires consumed over 6.6 million acres in little over a month!

[stepheno]

Why have you removed the original, Sage? It helps others to see comparisons.