Photo-editing Water Rock Knob image WW

Welcome Kittens & Dawgs to this week’s edition of not-so Wordless Wednesday. I’m once again photo-editing an archived photo. Today’s featured image is from Water Rock Knob Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

This is the original image, no photo-editing except for adding my copyright info. Nice, but ordinary, wouldn’t you agree?

I used two programs creating different images with the above picture. You decide which you like the best.

In Affinity Photo using the Haze Removal tool I adjusted the distance, strength, and exposure correction making the sky more interesting.
In Pixelmator from the Color Adjustments part of the program, I selected “Curves”, then “RGB” setting pulled line to lower right side achieving desired look – silhouettes and dramatic sky.

One of these days, I need to actually do a tutorial to learn more about these features. There is so much more I can do, if I just learn. sigh Oh well, I like the feel of these new images. The sky looks a lot more interesting in both pictures over the original.  A few tweaks here and there can really change the mood of a photo, can’t it?

Suzanne from McClendon Villa asked if she could photo-edit a couple of my images and I said, “Why sure!” So here’s are her creations.

Triple_Edit_King_Kong
You can see my original image, here, that Suzanne used to create this new picture. Incidentally, I took a few new pictures of King Kong over the weekend with my big girl camera. I will try to share those soon.

The below image she used Topaz filters in her photo-editing software, but I can’t remember which one she has now. slap forehead If you like what she’s done then please hop over to see her and beg her to tell you her secrets. 😀

You can find the original and my photo-edits of this image, here.

You did a great job, Suzie-Q and I really appreciate you sharing these with me!

In case you missed the mews I’m working on my site, repairing broken links and videos while summer blog traffic is slow. What this means is I’m minimizing my content by combining posts that are very similar such as (Not-so) Wordless Wednesday and Skywatch Friday.

You can find more photo hops listed under Daily Hops at the top of this page.

Be sure to join me for Friday Sillies and more Friday fun! Have a fototastic day!


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27 comments

  1. I’m a big fan of photo-editing. I like the middle shot (1st edit) the best. I usually edit with a goal of capturing the original “mind’s eye” view and try not to over-edit. As good as DSLRs are, they are still no match for the human eye!

  2. The first edit of Blue Ridge Parkway looks fabulous, Cathy! Your friend did a nice jog on the other two. Great shot of King Kong! 🙂 We share a love of photography, it seems and I would enjoy your tutorial. Did you know that today is World Photo Day? (Check out my post for more details) Have a good weekend!

  3. Hi, Cathy!

    I’ve been away from WW for a while, doing other things, but it’s so much fun to play with the galleries in my brand-new website, I decided to come back. And, of course, you’re the first person I visited.

    I’ve always been a fan of “interesting” skies! The first edit is my favorite. I may be coming back to check out your Skywatch Friday post – I keep seeing mentions of that, but haven’t seen it yet.

    And, btw, I love your header image! =D

    1. Shan, Well, I’m glad you decided to include me in your get-back-to-WW. I know what it’s like to leave a meme to pick it back up again. Working various hops in each week is challenging. I keep to a few pretty consistently. This summer I’ve kept like posts together. That’s why you don’t see a separate post for the Skywatch Friday contribution, but you can click the link to be directed to the host site. I generally try to incorporate a sky view in my not-so Wordless Wednesday post to satisfy both photograph needs. Thanks for commenting on my newly changed header. I felt the need to saw my patriotism with the presidential elections underway and for my love of this country. We need to make America great again. Anywho, I appreciate you stopping by for a visit and I hope you’ll make it a repeat venture. Have a funtastic day, my friend!

  4. Love the Blue Ridge Parkway. We went there on our honeymoon, sort of.

    1. David, where did you and Suzanne go for your honeymoon? The BRP is a beautiful place, especially the southern end (from Boone to Cherokee, North Carolina) in my opinion. The Virginia side is nice, but it doesn’t have near the breath-taking views as the NC portion. Also, the North Carolina side of the parkway is better maintained. It makes me sad that the whole thing isn’t taken care of and there are lots of places shut down. The government can’t run a place like this and they expect to do something more complicated like run our healthcare. Well, they aren’t doing that well, either. lol

      1. That is a long story. We started out in Spartanburg, S.C. Then, we went to Graceland in Memphis, Tenn. We followed that up with Lookout Mountain, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and Asheville, N.C. We started to go on the Blue Ridge Parkway but, long story short, we did not go far on it. You can get a little more of the story by going to my blog and type “Our Wedding” into the search box.

  5. Sorry that I’m running late today, Cathy. I’m working on my post and hopefully will have it up soon. Thank you for the shout out. 🙂

    I love all three of your images. I like the second one for its brightness and the third one for its moodiness. I can imagine sitting up there in the dark, with nothing but the light of the moon illuminating the beautiful scenery. Great job. 🙂

    Have a blessed evening.

    1. Suzanne, I got side tracked with my blog visits. We’re trying to get some much needed yard work done & then we had to go to the store. The outdoor work continues tomorrow, too. You’re welcome for the mention. Hopefully it’ll drive a little traffic your way. Sitting in the mountains when it’s pitch black and little traffic is kinda scary. I’m always afraid to get out of the car because there might be a bear waiting in the dark. Eek! ? I’ll be by soon!

      1. Thanks, Cathy. 🙂

        Yeah, a bear in the dark would be a scary thing. Ok, so it is a bear-less mountain in the dark and a full moon and no traffic and no boogers of any sort hiding out waiting to pounce. AND it is in the fall so all of the trees are doing their color dance. AND we have unlimited shrimp and cheese cake. Sounds perfect to me. 🙂

        1. Suzanne, a full moon would definitely help to spot any critters of any kind roaming outside the car, but if I have cheesecake with me then that might smell that and comin’ running. Oh, I love cheesecake! Yummy, nummy for my tummy!

        2. Suzanne, yes do what’s important first – eat the cheesecake. However, if the bear really want the cheesecake then they’d have to eat us. Let’s hope they don’t want it that bad. lol

  6. I personally like the one in the middle. It has more contrast and you can see it much better and clearer. How’d I do? ~hhehehehe~ Thanks for stopping by kiddo!!! HUGS

    1. Marie, there’s no wrong answers here. Photography and photo-editing is an art to interrupt every how it moves you, kinda like music. 😉

    1. Ellie Mae, I couldn’t resist. Anywho, I’m glad you like the photo-edits. The effect of the 3rd image is good. It has a spooky feel to it, doesn’t it?

  7. Cathy I love that first edit you did on your original! The sky is stunning.

    I hope you have a wonderful day my friend!

  8. Good Morning Cathy!
    I have to agree that post processing can make a big difference in a photograph. My favorite edit is the Affinity one. I love that the program was able to clear the haze and add interest to the sky. I will have to check out that program. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

    1. Nita, It would be awesome, if I could capture awesome pictures every time; but I don’t think even the most skilled photographer gets awesome photos all the time and for someone like myself it’s far less. So, a good photo-editing program can be all the difference in the world, can’t it? The Haze filter found in the Affinity software adds a nice touch. I can’t quite reproduce this effect with Pixelmator, but I’m sure there’s a way to do it. I just have to figure it out. Next stop your place!

  9. Hi, Cathy!

    I needed to absent myself from blogging for a couple of days due to a family emergency – a serious illness of a family member and related circumstances. I visited your ELO post just now, enjoyed it and commented.

    You and DH should just break down and move to the Blue Ridge Parkway! You spend so much of your spare time there. 🙂 If that picture was taken the night you were were hoping to watch the meteor shower then I can understand why you were disappointed. I am amazed how you altered the pic with your tools. I admire the one in which you removed the haze and made the sky pop. I agree that you should offer a tutorial on how to use those features to tweak lackluster images and turn them into works of art.

    Happy not-so Wordless Wednesday, dear friend Cathy!

    1. Tom, I’m sorry to hear the news of a family member being so sick. DH and I will keep these concerns in prayer. God knows the details and is already taking care of things. I appreciate you letting me know that you’ll be away. My door is always always open for a visit. Living near the BRP would be awesome, but the kind of work DH doesn’t isn’t conventionally located nearby. Perhaps, if we ever win the lottery then we can get a second home somewhere in the mountains. We’d really like that! In regard to this photo taken at Water Rock Knob. I took it at a different time than this past weekend. There was even more clouds than this overhead for stargazing. It made for beautiful day skies, but the coverage acted as a curtain for the better part once it was pitch black. I will think about offering a tutorial on the things I learn. Another friend suggested I do the same. This would would actually do two things – teach y’all the steps and serve as a reminder of how I did it. I really need notes to fall back on. 😀 You’re in my thoughts, dear friend, and I hope everything goes well (or well as expected) for your loved one.

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