Lock & Keepers Cottage

I took this photo a few weeks ago after a visit to Cassiobury Park but never got around to upload it. Its a Lock & Keepers cottage on the Grand Union canal next door to cassi park.
After seeing Daves (Grumpy`s) color popping image yesterday i decided to have a go at doing my own color popping.

Before :



After :



Im not sure about it, part of me thinks less is better. I know Color popped images are supposed to draw your attention to certain parts of a photo to make them stand out. Are there any rules when it comes to how much you can color pop an image??

Anyway, this is my 1st real go at it so please be honest with any comments

Oh If anybody is wondering what it says on the sign in front of the cottage, it says `Danger Crocodiles, No Swimming`

Hi Mark,

I like it..it works well with this image and 'crispens' it up though there are other ways to do that.

I know you want constructive crit so I will add this, the gable end isn't in mono and so it jumps out as odd to me.

just my opinion but I like the first picture and the colour popping one does nothing for me
I think its to bitty if you know what I mean
Id like to see it with all the back ground b/w and all the house in colour

Thanks Sharon
Im not sure whether its the color of the gable end in the original, being the shade it is, when converting it to B&W there is a very minute shade difference. I did darken the image originally to bring out the gable end more but it made the flowers look superimposed and the rest of the image too dark. Maybe i needed to add another level just with the gable end in it and then tweak the settings. Thanks for pointing that out to me though, i could not tell until it was pointed out

..and to add to what Cakey said.

If a cottage has age and moss that dapples and soften the light then then you lose a 'something' by taking that out. That is actually ok if you play with PP lighting and a different emphasis.

My biggest losses in this particular shot would be the chimney pots and the background hedge..keep them in colour for my tastes.

I`ll have a go at that Cakey.......

As i said, i wasnt sure about it, i do agree with you about it being bitty, that was one of my thoughts, although its good to get other members opinions as well, many eyes and all that. There is no part of the image that you get drawn too.

Take your point with the chimney pots Sharon....although i am a little perplexed about the background hedges/trees......They are both in color but for some reason the 2nd one has turned out a different shade. It has lossy data compression written all over it. :/

For Cakey


Might be back to the drawing board Cakey I did try leaving the yellow flowers in B&W but looked worse

My personal opinion is that the cottage takes up too much of the image for this to work either way

you know my rule Mark.

Play, play, play!!

When I get a picture in PP and am happy with it , I load it then go back and edit.I pull all sorts of boosts and inversion..textures and features,...so I can see what they do.

Lovely husband says 'eeeurgh' as he looks over my shoulder but I am learning techniques and the time will come when that knowledge and all those 'mistakes' will
yield fruit.

Learnin' curve baby!

Have to agree with the above mate, to be honest. In this case i thing either colour or mono. Maybe boost the saturation a bit or run a colour pop routine in photoshop......

Dave