Saturation or desaturation?

[malgorzataradwanska]

Studio/Institution: personal
Genre: Institution
Software: archicad, artlantis, photoshop
Description:

Hi guys,

A quick question: saturated version or desaturated version?

 

I am a huge fan of desaturation but I heard an opinion about this shot that the desaturated version looks like the world is going to end (or already did)

 

Opinions highly appreciated.

Thanks!

M

[Zdravko Barisic]

Saturated one.

Besides that, the world is still going down...

[malgorzataradwanska]

Besides that, the world is still going down...

 

You mean in my image or in reality

And if you do mean my image, can you explain? Sky, color, contrast? Is there something wrong?

Thanks a lot for your feedback.

M

[heni30]

I like the desaturated one. Everything looks really nice.

 

The trees in the right foreground are REALLY distracting because they are black and charred like a forest fire and are so different from the birch trees on the left. The sky turns black around them as well. It's like they are telling a story but not the story you want!

 

The wall stone work looks a little to gappy. The fountain water looks like it's frozen. I think some lights behind the glass would be a nice touch.

 

I'm not sure yet about the little girl. I think she's ok. Her crouching stance makes her look Little Red Riding Hood-ish. Like she just escaped from the Wolf's lair.

Edited September 18, 2014 by heni30

[branskyj]

Beautiful render, M.

I like the de-saturated one much more. It just feels more natural especially considering the overcast day conditions...

 

The trees on the right are just a bit odd being so dark but that might be what you were going for.

I am interested if all that is pure render or was the vegetation done in post? Either way- really nice job

 

All the best to you.

[Zdravko Barisic]

You mean in my image or in reality

And if you do mean my image, can you explain? Sky, color, contrast? Is there something wrong?

Thanks a lot for your feedback.

M

 

In reality...Personally, I like common life-coloured images, but thats just my own opinion.

You have a perfect scene, for making the the pure white building, in automn wood, which could look perfect.

I mean>

1. Ozone blue Sky, with some clouds, not too much.

2. Pure white walls, almost self-shininig.

3. Green grass+yellow/orange/red coloured leaves.

 

Recently, I did almost similar project.

[malgorzataradwanska]

Thanks so much for your feedback, guys!

You are correct - the dark trees are definitely distracting. I have to work on them when I have some time.

 

@george: The girl was supposed to look like Little Red Riding Hood so it's an association I wanted to evoke. The other question is if that is the right direction to go. It reduces reality, making it a bit fantasy for the whole image.

 

@Julian: The trees are in post - I am still fighting with the idea if I should learn to model environments. It goes so much faster in ps! But the modeled environments are just soo awesome and of course you have 100% influence how they look.

 

@Zdravko: could you please post your project here? It would be great to compare them.

 

Yet again, thanks for your time!

M

[TomD_Arch]

I like the de-saturated one because it feels more photo-real. The scene itself is very interesting as well, yes it does feel a little dystopian, but that causes me to engage with the scene and look around in it for other clues that might tell the story of how it got to be like this.

 

This is not to say the saturated one is bad. On it's own merits it looks really nice and made me (Being from the United States) think of this as a Thanksgiving Holiday scene. So, you see, the value in this is that you have created two images that can elicit two different, but distinct emotional responses from a viewer.

 

Having said that you might consider developing both images in their own right. you see this kind of technique all the time, e.g.: the same exact camera angle of a structure but rendered at the peek of all four seasons. If all four images are completed to the same level of finished state then all four images are valuable.

 

Sorry for the existential rant.

[heni30]

T

 

@george: The girl was supposed to look like Little Red Riding Hood so it's an association I wanted to evoke. The other question is if that is the right direction to go. It reduces reality, making it a bit fantasy for the whole image. M

 

She is borderline. I like her but she seems a little suspicious, cautious, wary, which maybe creates a negative vibe.

 

It's interesting that just in general de-saturation creates this interesting other-worldliness sense of mystery but it sometimes it might cross over into dreariness - this sad lifeless, lack of color. Kind of a balancing act.

[carloscristerna]

I like the de-saturated image. I believe that saturation had nothing to do with the scary nature of the image, is the fall, gray sky, little girl in the woods, creepy parents watching etc.

 

I believe the grays are the culprits here. add a complimentary color to your yellows and oranges like a little blue to the sky and you will be golden.

 

CC

[thomaschristensen]

desaturated any day! There are waaaayy too many commercial images that gets ruined by being overly fake green. If in doubt, add a 25-40% desat to everything.

[nileshbhagwat]

i like the saturated image