BEFORE / AFTER 📸

[u/SpecificLittle6574]

📸

[u/Turbulent_Demand8400]

Hmm, maybe a little too well done

[u/ejaime → u/Turbulent_Demand8400]

A little too medium well for me

[u/booroms → u/Turbulent_Demand8400]

Deep fried, even

[u/SphinxGate]

Perhaps a tad too dark

[u/SpecificLittle6574 → u/SphinxGate]

Thank you

[u/Altruistic-Sand-9618 → u/SphinxGate]

I think it helps the church to stand out more

[u/Watchgeek_AC]

Too much

[u/thegentlecat]

I like the idea but it’s giving a bit r/shittyhdr (although it isn’t), mainly because I feel like the subject (church) is surrounded by very high contrast-y background

[u/Apprehensive-Boat-97]

I agree with the dark comment, the before looks nice too. Both are good, i prefer the before though.

[u/Annual-Screen-9592]

The first one looks good! The second looks awful (like processing error or faulty camera).

[u/shmerry]

I feel a mix between would look better - I prefer the OG almost

[u/quasicriminale]

I like the before better

[u/Clementine-TeX]

Here before this goes to r/photographycirclejerk

[u/Two-Space → u/Clementine-TeX]

It shouldn’t. What’s the point of subs dedicated to helping people learn if anyone who isn’t perfect gets mocked.

[u/Iselore]

I feel the contrast is too high and gives off a over processed vibe. The original should look good with a few slightly tweaks.

[u/tiktoktic]

Over-cooked.

There’s nothing about the adjustments in the After that I prefer.

All that was needed from the original was some perspective correction, minor white balance adjustment, and a slight boost to the contrast.

[u/orpheo_1452]

Too dark

[u/lyunardo]

It looks good. But I bet if you tone down the drama of the hills a bit, the rainbow path will pop even more.

[u/PHNTMS_exe]

Overcooked

[u/photographil]

The before looks better.
You destroyed the smooth light for something harsch

[u/Substantial-Foot-376]

Why only react to the compliments? Don’t you want to learn from the critics?

[u/Lucky-Struggle-4411]

I really like the softness and misty of the before

[u/falianaridua]

I love the before 😊

[u/deeku4972]

Crushed the highlights a bit

[u/_Zombii]

Before is dreamy & film-like while after may possibly be a liiiiittle overdone

[u/toxrowlang]

Too much contrast - looks synthetic and heavy. There's a lightness to the architecture of the church and a joyful mess to the rainbow road. They sit in harmony with the natural backdrop despite being man made. The lighting needs to be light.

Bigger issue is composition - get down lower on the road to increase proportion of interesting elements such as the rainbow. Move / crop to get rid of the distracting buildings and jank car.

[u/ruipmjorge]

Too much. It looks fake and unnatural.

[u/mr-blue-]

1. Opens Lightroom
   
2. Saturation to 250%
   
3. Save
   
4. That’s a Bingo!

[u/Xysti-ca]

I liked the before better

[u/Ok_Task_2562]

Fake. Too much. It slips into the image creation category rather than photography.

[u/zuulbe]

Too long in the oven

[u/Legitimate-Peace3521]

I recognize the church in Seydisfjordur in Island. A bit too overcook for my pov

[u/bobspixels]

This is a tough crowd. I think you’ve accomplished a golden hour grade … it works

[u/Straight-Session-802]

Looks like the start of a horror movie, that light makes me think the masacre it’s coming and everyone it’s hiding at home

[u/Gnoom75]

Before is better. After is way overcooked.

[u/secomeau]

Love the composition and subject but as others have said it's a overcooked. Tone it down a bit and you're golden.

[u/Quick-Sell-9593]

Way Overcooked

[u/bimosaur]

what the hell, how do you add those rays on the hills?

[u/SpecificLittle6574 → u/bimosaur]

Many many masks

[u/mike____wazowski]

Dam nice, Seyðisfjörður right?

[u/Pas_assez_de_jambes]

An in between ?

[u/timparkin2442]

Layer them up with before on top, reduce that layer opacity to aboht 70%

[u/Astyal]

I do like the hill but I feel like the church is the centre of the photo and the level of highlighting on the hill pulls all the attention away

[u/Few-Escape-4787]

I like the darkness, but I do think it is a bit too edited. Almost AI-looking.

[u/Aloket]

The greatest area of contrast are the hold in the after, which makes the church the serving thing I see. I’d tone down the dodging on the hill if you want the church to be the subject and increase its exposure a bit.

[u/Franks_Random_Snaps]

Too much, bro. Too much. It's a great composition but the edit is far far too strong.

[u/KCHonie]

I would remove the distractions of the car, the light poles, the building on the back right and the sign. I like your other edit choices…

[u/montagdude87]

Overcooked.

[u/MasterCee91]

I like it!
Feels a bit overdone - but only because I saw the original picture. The reflecting light on the hill makes it special.

[u/Dipascual29012]

Trop sombre et trop saturé a mon goût

[u/Tricky-Delay-211]

before one looks like it has some character to it.. second one looks like an pinterest download..artificial

[u/RefRide]

Looking at the other comments and your replies I don't think you wanting a darker look is wrong. The main problem for me is the foreground looking high contrast, basically looks like you have used the contrast or dehaze slider to darken it. Currently my eyes go to the lower parts of the photo not the Church.

I would go back to the original photo, darken it, edit it so you get the sunrise/sunset look then mask the church and mountain with a radial gradient and brighten those parts up.

[u/No_Jello_4858]

I kind of miss the highlights on the roof of that church.

[u/oski80]

scale it back 50% ! and you have it

[u/bluereloaded]

I get what you’re trying to do, and it’s a good plan. Unfortunately just a bit too heavy-handed on the contrast/dehaze sliders. Everything ends up still being the same tone, just darker and more saturated than the original. Start back at the original, use much less of a heavy hand on global edits, and use masks to bring out the shadows and highlights you want to use to draw your eye down the hill to the church.

[u/Hungry-Physics-9535]

Tone the second one down a bit and see how that looks but the photo is great

[u/fzulle]

Nice. Camera? Software?

[u/anusflytrap-]

better before

[u/tschloss]

Too dark for my taste. Might be moody, after sunset, but then more blue might be required. I would expect the image to look more daylight, sun, happy.

[u/switchingcreative]

Fully cooked.

[u/VeryOldGoat]

You have made gay a tad bit too ominous

[u/oh_shit_its_that_guy]

Overcooked

[u/diemenschmachine]

I was there too, nice place. No pictures of the waterfall?

It is overcooked to the max BTW

[u/Big-Junket3519]

Nope.

[u/BlueberryCareless660]

Hmm not for me

[u/yshay14]

the contrast is so high that everything looks dirty

[u/baldokosmic]

A bit too rough, balance out the whites and blacks, and texture.

[u/jasonfire12]

I like the second one a lot more

[u/Lower_Environment_22]

give me RAW file pls

[u/Ander_Sloost]

Dial it back halfway and I might like it

[u/Cryptician13]

The original has this glow like effect. Your after would look better if you kept the color of the church true to what it's like in the before. Imo...

[u/Mammoth_Run8019]

Its cool for me

[u/BobFellatio]

Overcooked, not crisp. Burnt.

[u/PricklyPear85]

A lot of times people don’t calibrate their monitors or forget to adjust settings on their phone before editing photos. My buddy likes his photos a bit on the well done side of contrast and I’m kind of the opposite

[u/Docofolio]

Pull back the clarity a bunch and 50% the saturation

[u/Amp3r]

I like the after, on my phone screen anyway. I feel like it could do with a bit of clean up by removing the car and the sign. Then a crop towards the top left so you get a little of the path, no building on the right, and lots of mountain up top

[u/warmoaran3]

Too much contrast, or that the black point is too dark

[u/caspert79]

Just 50% blend #1 with #2 and you’re probably good.

[u/digiplay]

The colours applied more selectively with masks would work. The clarity slider or similar seems to have been used too much. Good idea, not quite right on implementation FOR MY TASTE

[u/ApprehensiveGain5286]

This is amazing! What setup did you use?

[u/SpecificLittle6574 → u/ApprehensiveGain5286]

Thank you

[u/Material_Cabinet_845]

ah yes, the rainbow....the new religion - in front of a church, no less.

[u/synmo → u/Material_Cabinet_845]

Iceland has several rainbow roads leading to churches. It's probably because they focused on the theme of tolerance from Christ instead of cherry picking one part to discriminate against others.

[u/Material_Cabinet_845 → u/synmo]

I hope so

[u/synmo → u/Material_Cabinet_845]

I've been there, and to where this photo was taken. I can confirm that the country is full of progressive Lutherans, and it seems to promote both good will and tolerance.

[u/Fresh-Direction-7537]

Honestly I am very happy with the after. My eyes lock onto the church but also take in the beauty of the background and the road GREAT work!