Venice:
How the shots were digitally fudged

Original shot. It's dreary yet, amazingly, all is not lost. Time for some digital mucking about!



Here is the digitally enhanced pic.
The lighting levels have been corrected, the colours enhanced, contrast increased. Highlights have been added or enhanced. This is particularly true of the water, which has also been tinted blue. Note also the vanishing of that wretched, eye-abusing crane. Zap!





Another dull original shot.




This pic has been improved using similar techniques to the previous shot. Notice here the the top lamp is now decapitated, and a few blemishes here and there have been purged. Also the colours have been altered and pumped right up.





The original. Not quite there, is it?




The change of colour here seems like a cheat, but bizarrely, this image is much more faithful to the actual colour of the scene as it appeared to my eye. There was this astonishing red glow but the camera washed out this fantastic hue, so I digitally airbrushed the red back into the scene. I left the top of the clouds bluish to add a moody twist to the pic.




The Original




Behold the disappearance of the motor boat: I digitally sank the damned thing. This image not only looks more traditional sans the ugly motor boat, but the composition is improved as a bonus. Less can be more. Lighting levels have been improved, contrast has been cranked up and colours manipulated. Highlights and shadows have been enhanced here and there too.







Here the first thing to note is that the building has been straightened, losing the leaning, perspective look. The musicians have been enhanced here by brightening them. Notice the areas circled in red on the original pic. These objectionable objects have been mercilessly obliterated.



The Original. Oh my, this is underexposed and out of focus. We're doomed!




Digital technology to the rescue! Firstly, the lighting levels have been cranked up. (Incidentally, changing levels is not the same as simply turning up the brightness. The darker areas remain dark.) The image was sharpened and the contrast hitched a notch or two. As always, certain unwelcome details and distractions have been toned down or killed. Many of the reflections on the water have been exaggerated, and the lighting of the architecture tweaked here and there.