To the average viewer, this tranquil, scenic photograph of Cades Cove probably looks natural. But for others who have visited this part of the Smoky Mountains, it may look a bit unusual. I’ve published this photo before without the perspective modifications that are described in this How To Do Stuff (HTDS) post.
The original image, left, shows the unmodified view. I liked the scene but wanted to get a little more curve to the fence line in the lower area. The change also added depth and visual flow.
Processing: To achieve the final result above, I made a duplicate layer and applied Edit > Transform > Warp in Adobe Photoshop CS6 and pulled the lower right area down to create a slight slope while pulling the upper right corner up to raise the tree tops. I then dropped the lower left to make the left center of the scene (bears) more prominent. Nik Viveza 2 was used for more color punch and selective structuring.
And finally, I added a very slight vignette to darken the corners, drawing more attention to the center of the image.
With all of the natural texture of this shot, a gritty, artsy monochrome seemed appropriate. I used Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 and took advantage of the individual color adjustments to work the blue/cyan background and green/yellow foliage.
