Original RAW Photograph

This photograph was taken with a professional 10M pixel camera using all the "correct" camera settings. I remember that it was certainly a beautiful day with a blue, but cloudless sky, and beautiful blue-green water.

As anyone can see, the sky and the water are almost a descriptionless, unexciting grey. Also, you can see signs of the haze in the distant ground and sky.

Hand-Processed Photograph

The levels and contrast of the overall photograph were adjusted to use the whole black-to-white range without losing any detail.

In order to get a supurb result, masks were created for the water, sky, ground, splashes of water and subjects so that each could be processed separately. Each separate entity was individually adjusted for color balance and saturation. This way, when you increase the blues and greens in the water, you don't end-up adding a blue-green tint to their faces or the white splashes of water.

First Crop

There are no hard rules or standards for cropping photographs. You can crop a photograph many ways and some might be more appropriate for certain applications like advertising or photos that will be sold for art. For most of us though, your personal taste is most important.

However, you should consider in advance if and how you plan to display the photo. Perhaps you intend to frame it and place it on a desk or hang it on the wall. Maybe its going to be a page in a photo album. What size frame do you want to use? Are you going use a standard frame or invest in professional framing? Do you want the photograph surrounded by a mat board?

Here's my first crop. At the time, I was thinking about the excitement and exhilaration of throwing the jet ski into a 90 degree turn. For me, at this moment, that meant that I wanted to leave plenty of that foaming white flying water.

Second Crop

Here, the vertical orientation cuts out a lot of the flying water, but the higher center of balance creates its own kind of tension. You can increase that tension even more by placing the subjects a little higher in the photo and a little more off-center.

The vertical format results in a more tightly cropped photo which helps to focus attention on the couple.

Third Crop

The third and final crop is a bit of a compromise. I like the horizontal presentaton because it keeps more of the spray and, I think, more of the sense of excitement. I like the closer cropping in the vertical example because it better focuses your attention on the couple and the excitement in their faces. Ultimately, I was able to zoom in a little more on the couple without cutting out to much of the water spray.

After reconsidering all three versions of the cropped photo, I developed a real liking for this last version. In the two earlier crops there is undisturbed blue water remaining at the bottom of the photo that gives them a more balanced and stable feel. Sometimes that would be a good reason to choose one of them, but in this instance the almost pure white bottom area of the last photo makes it appear that they are hanging at the edge of a precipice with no earth below to save them!

For me, this last one is the most exciting and memorable of the three.

Final Retouch

I tuned down the redness in their faces. His face is in shadow so I lightened it and added some highlights so that the lighting of his face matches hers better.

A similar effort would be $65 plus the cost of the print. However, that also includes a free high-resolution download of the retouched photograph and a perpetual personal use license.