Need help bringing life into picture

[twoaussies]

This is the center of a photomerge and I need help bringing some light into it. Tried Screen and Lighten, but that didnt seem to work. Many thanks. Jean
http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1fSzPWURQSuGAXGOvecmxXmAzLF_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1fSzPWURQSuGAXGOvecmxXmAzLF)

[TonyW]

The problem is the tones are all bunched up in the middle. You need to use Levels to spread them out by moving the sliders in to the edge of the histogram. Another way is to open in Camera Raw (if you have a recent version with an updated Camera Raw) and play with the sliders. Here's what I got quickly - maybe overkill but gives you an idea of what can be done - I also added a Blue Photo Filter to give it a bit more colour.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1xIuWvSLFdI1tZ3KCrWOeK8UOn10MB_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1xIuWvSLFdI1tZ3KCrWOeK8UOn10MB)

Tony

[twoaussies]

Tony: That is 100% better. But I dont know about Camera Raw. I am using 5.0 (I always forget to mention that). Where is the blue photo filter. You have certainly helped. Will I ever learn everything in 5.0? Jean

[Bayla]

Jean,

The histogram showed very little on the right so I just tried a simple levels adjustment on it which brightened it considerably and made the greens pop more...

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/15SMStHRfLf58uYTbcQYrrZt8UtK0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=15SMStHRfLf58uYTbcQYrrZt8UtK0)

Bayla

EDIT: Tony still types more quickly than me!!

[Jancy]

I decided to give it a try. Duplicated it a few times, levels adjustment, highlights and shadows adjustment,brightness and contrast.
http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1HD0ZYWwd2cnQmDeq6QbjF5YSLT_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1HD0ZYWwd2cnQmDeq6QbjF5YSLT)

[TonyW]

Jean: Don't worry about Camera Raw - I only mentioned it as it's the way I like to do it (there have been a few threads on opening JPEGS with Camera Raw that explain how to do it). Like Bayla says Levels will do it although you might also want to try Shadows/Highlights as that sometimes also helps. Photo Filter is best used as an Adjustment Layer (Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Photo Filter) Pick a Filter from the drop down (I used Deep Blue) and adjust the Density to taste. It's a good way to add a bit of extra colour when the original is missing something.

Tony

[VegasGeorge]

You could use Render, Lighting Effects to do something a little more dramatic with the scene, like:

[twoaussies]

Thanks all, I will put the three photos together as a panorama and try all the suggestions. Jean