Dark waters

All comments and thoughts for this image would be very welcome. I've pp'd the basics (cropped, lighting etc) but not sure how far to take the editing to add interest and aesthetics if that is possible.

I find I use post processing not to add interest and aesthetics, but to bring out what interest and aesthetics is already in the shot. What interests YOU in the shot or what aesthetics already here would motivate you to go further in post?

I find I use post processing not to add interest and aesthetics, but to bring out what interest and aesthetics is already in the shot. What interests YOU in the shot or what aesthetics already here would motivate you to go further in post?

Sam, you've answered my original question by asking the same question in reply. OK I should have used different wording "bring out interest and aesthetics" in place of "add". I find this image frustrating as it is, quite minimalistic and yet I feel it could have more appeal with some expert editing. Perhaps abstract treatment or more emphasis given to the boat or post. Posting this image on the forum is a request for other members to give suggestions and their thoughts which would be very welcome.

I was trying to get you to use some adjectives which would describe your personal attachment or emotional response to this, which might suggest a direction the post work could go in. No one should be telling you the endgame. Makes sense to seek suggestions on how to get where YOU want to go. Less sense to ask where to go, in my book. The two descriptive words you came up with were frustrating and minimalistic. Add to minimalistic an emotion. Do you feel or want to feel lonely here? Quiet? Peaceful? Sad? Is it an empty kind of minimal, a restful minimal, a symbolic minimal, a universal minimal, a cold or warm minimal? Are you frustrated by the photo or does the photo have some potential to actually show frustration? That would be an interesting read and direction to head if you see any potential there.

 

I think generically getting a photo to have “more appeal” is a recipe for disaster. It’s moving toward style lacking substance, toward some objective notion of what “good” photos look like. But a good photo is often one that actually EXPRESSES a personal point of view. How does THIS minimalistic scene make you feel or what does it seem to be leading you to feel? No post processing can begin until some spark ignites it. Then it can keep building on itself and go places you might not have predicted. But post processing is not just an exercise in giving a photo curb appeal like trimming the front lawn of the house you want to sell or determining what color paint will most appeal to potential buyers.

Reset the 'white point' to somewhere 'bright' in the sea. You'll lose some detail but the contrast will be more 'dramatic'.

I'd put more emphasis on the boat and pole by cropping 1:1, then I'd bring up the detail in the pole, but just a little. The paint scheme of the boat, its textures and the textures of the pole are what I see of interest here. I think that all the negative space and vignetting of that lens distracts. When I see vignetting like that, I think one or two things, either, "Cheap lens" or "Contrived". If it's an old lens and that's the best it can do, then I'd crop it out. Let the kids on Instagram discover and play with vignetting.

Dark Waters Revised by David Stephens, on Flickr

 

This is the concept that I had in mind. If I'd had the RAW file, I'd raise the pole slightly more. I'm not real excited about the original or my interpretation.

I think a somewhat more vertical format suits the subject, then making it more "stark" to catch the eye and to hold it there. The pole needed more detail because the "story" wouldn't be much without the pole IMO. I gave it lots of brightening mid-tone, a little more white point, a little extra contrast, knocked back the exposure a little then it was sharpened after the severe cropping

 

Some very helpful and interesting ideas so many thanks to the members concerned. Good to see the forum being used with members helping and hopefully enjoying the involvement which was one of the reasons for posting this frustrating image. Thank you for the different versions posted and the time involved "a picture paints .........." I've looked at and used some of the editing suggestions with my version 2 below, I'm very pleased with the result being a much improved capture, also pleased to see the forum creating interest within the community.

I like your cropped version, much improved over the original - but since you called it "dark waters":

Inverted the image, then overlaid with the original using "darken" mode; finally adjusted contrast to taste.