AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

Thanks, Bill.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

Thanks for your comment. I never thought about it being flat. I'll look again. I'm always worried about getting things too "punchy," so I seldom add saturation, but do take the vibrance up a tad sometimes.

RWCRNC Loc: Pennsylvania

No. Nice shot

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Not to me.

Cwilson341 Loc: Central Florida

I like the shot, Kathy. The yellow flowers as a nice touch. I took the liberty of playing with it just a bit. I didn't lighten. I just increased the saturation of green and yellow to give a little more punch. It didn't make a big difference but I thought it helped.

anotherview Loc: California

Yes. But you could lift the midtones even more -- to taste.

Yes.

Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas

I think you have it just right. If you were to open up shadows any more it will start to go flat. IMO it is not flat now. To make images not as flat you usually increase contrast that will make your shadows go darker.
All that being said I think you nailed it. 👏

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

Thanks Rebecca.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

Thanks, John.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

I was wondering about that. When those bushes are dark, I can ignore them. When lightened, I have to pay attention to them. Now I have to decide which I want to do! Thanks for your suggestion.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

Thanks, that was sort of my thought.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

Thanks, Carol. As I said before, I seldom mess with saturation because I don't want to over-saturate reality. But in this case, perhaps bringing up the yellow to make the rabbit brush stand out a bit might be a good idea. Thanks, again.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

This is, I think, my final edit. I lightened the darkest part of the bushes by about 2 points. Hopefully that's not enough to make them fight with the subjects. And I decided I wanted the rabbit brush to be one of the elements, so I tried to bring it out a bit.

(Download)

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

Excellent. As good as it gets.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

It's an interesting study to note what exactly it is that gets an image looking too punchy. It varies from image to image depending on content, but as a general rule I find that it's the extremes of the luminosity scale that cause the most problems, especially the highlights. Darks going too solid and heavy is less than perfect but it doesn't usually scream "overcooked", whereas highlights that are too bright scream "too harsh", which can be a real shot spoiler. Subduing highlights and lifting shadows while at the same time boosting overall contrast can be tricky but it's worth developing that skill because it produces results that the eye likes, and that still applies if you like a natural look.

Another road to being too punchy is using too much saturation, but all colours aren't equal when it comes to creating a garish look. Again it depends on content, but as a general rule the colours quickest to look overcooked are the warmer colours (red, orange, yellow and yellow-green). If a shot has a preponderance of yellow, that's usually the colour that needs subduing most. Yellow-green is another common culprit because it's usually the colour of grass and leaves, especially in bright sunshine. For targeting the problem colours you need the HSL tool (or whatever your editor's equivalent is). When the problem colours are reined in you can leave the rest of the shot with a higher level of saturation.

The main problem with your posted shot is that it was shot in harsh light, which always means giving yourself extra work.