garyslake

[mikemeister_admin]

Contrast pin,color boost,second pass,modified S curve for  more contrast.GregM

[ggroess]

Not sure if mine is any better but I will tell everyone...

You should attempt this image especially in LAB.  There is a lot of color information in here..almost every color could use a contrast boost type separation to broaden the range in the image.

I have posted my ACV file but I also made a layer copy and applied it back using soft light as the layer style and reduced the opacity until I was satisfied with the haze in the hills.

This might be a good CMYK candidate as well...

[mikemeister_admin]

I like your roadside vegetation.There's also a ridgeline(9-3:00 oclock) just above the shore that could possibly be emphasized,giving more depth like the ridges in the SunMoon Lake image.
P.S. I see that Zog and I have converted you to the blue haze in the distance school.GregM

[ggroess]

not completely...I'll go down fighting....

I try to check it..this image was very flat...It needed some help in the hills...

[mikemeister_admin]

Greg!
Loaded the acv file. You have set quite som points in the center of the Lab, a and b curves, in a narrow area and adjusted them. Do not quite understand how you placed them and why exactly that adjustments? Assume on a higher level. Only learned that if curves horisontal you will get grey area, or?
Thomas

[ggroess]

In this particular image the colors live in a fairly narrow band near the center of the A and B channels.  The idea is to put control points "Contrast Pins" on the curve and separate them vertically.  The A channel in this image needs less help than the B channel. 

Each point is addressing a separate color issue..Some may be useless but they are added for control and to keep the adjustment from spreading across the entire curve.

If I rotate the curve to horizontal I get muted colors. 

If I rotate them to the vertical I get saturated colors.

If I take two points on the curve in the yellow range for instance...see shot attached...and I separate them vertically the "local color" gets more variation and saturation.

To do this: 1) select the first point with the mouse and then 2) hold down the Ctrl key and select the second point.  You will have created a "contrast pin" manually and you can rotate them using the side frame of the curve or you can move them around together to change the color balance a bit.

Play around and see what can happen.  If you are in the A channel and the Reds get to vibrant you can mute then a bit this way as well...

Greg

[mikemeister_admin]

I used thresholds for hightlights and shadows then put a neutral on the road,then some contrast pinning in the yellow quadrant.
Second pass was an attempt to bring out the ridge by the lake.

Greg,why do I sometimes loose the expand function for my images?

[ggroess]

you mean on the web site??

The image size is pretty small it might be displayed at full size depending on your browser.

[mikemeister_admin]

I see what was happening,some images were still in PNG format.
Think the roadside vegetation has better color in second and absolutley last version of this image.