Good start, R.G. You were so stunned by the magic of strong, bold colors that you forgot the stars needed to be bright, too. The white area below the balloon should contain detail even if that detail is a very pale yellow or gold color. I'm not going to mark it because you will produce a great image after this little reminder.

NJ, you had an idea and ran with it. This means you should have thought more about what you wanted to achieve with this image. Right? Yes, you are correct, you should have run in the opposite direction. You did well controlling noise, good work. However, your image lacks contrast, clarity, and sharpness. The clouds have patches of white with no detail. Your sunbeams don't show against the gray sky. Here's a tip, sun beams work best when they come through a dark area. Imagine a dark forest with the sun beams coming through the trees. Now those beams really have impact. Try it with a dark forest photo from Google images, you'll be amazed. Sun beams are not so good with a light or white area. But you know that now, right?
Please load your image into your photo editor. Find the Brightness and Contrast filter. Do not touch the brightness slider. Move the Contrast slider until your image looks stronger. Move the brightness slider a tad if you need to. If you have an Exposure filter adjust that a little until your image pops. If your sky and/or clouds are too bright, make a selection around your sky and reduce the brightness. Post you new image to get a higher rating. This interpretation gets you three thumbs.

No problem, Bev, we have all done that at some time. (Me especially LOL!)

That is a good attempt with the image, but there are a number of problems: the clouds have patches of white with no detail. That's a no-no. Always have detail in whites and blacks, which a inclined to lack detail because of over-exposure for white, under-exposure for black, and post processing which is overdone and too much. Over doing it in PP is easy because you have so many adjustment tools to play with. If you use an adjustment tool or filter and you don't like what you see, click undo and select a different tool. Don't try to cure the mistake you made by adding another tool to hide the mistake. That way leads to disaster. There is also a lot of noise in the sky, check the darker clouds for the grainy effect, that's noise. You can get rid of it with your denoise filter. Be careful how you use this filter as moving the slider too far softens everything. Not good.
The houses also have noise and they need sharpening. There are other problems but I don't want to tear your work to pieces. Lets all learn challenge by challenge. You get three thumbs this time for your interpretation.

Here is a dull composite image. Your challenge is to get the colors to be bold and bright to give the image impact.

1. The blacks to be black, black, black.

2. The sky above the sea is dark to mid blue and stars are bright.

3. The sea reflects the sky.

4. The balloon to have bright bold colors. No pale bright colors. Aim for strong bold colors.

Have fun.

Work Image - Have Fun

(Download)

Bev, If you want to display a picture in your post, be sure to use, JPG, or PNG files. File size in theory should not be a problem, but files, .jpg for sure, are adjusted automatically. Chin up and try again, please.

Dean, If you decide to go with GIMP there are three .pdf books which cover working with the software. The three books cover everything you need and they are free. I offer to send them to you because the original website has closed. You can get them in other places but they want your email address, etc. PM me if you want them.

NikonGal, welcome. In your eagerness you forgot to click the 'store original' box. I need to see your image full size. Please post again and click the box.

Excellent, R.G. This is your among your best. Any flaws are so minor they fall away under the impact of this image. Five thumbs.

Thanks for the helpful information, Jim.

[quote=Jim-Pops]

Thanks for your pertinent comment, Jim. This reply is important for all members. There clearly is a difference between the results we get from different machines, software, monitors, etc. I try to be aware of this as you may have noticed in my less strict critiques (at times). My advice is go ahead and, bearing my suggestions in mind, produce the best result you can. Here I want to stress the need to fully understand how to use whatever software you have. You can do that Challenge by Challenge. I often do my best work with GIMP (I know, old school). Why? Because I have been using that program for years. I am skilled at using it. You have to achieve a high level of skill with your photo editor. (I'm now trying to learn how to use Affinity Photo. I'm struggling because I don't yet know which tool or adjustment filter will give me the result I want. I'll get there because it's just a matter of practice, and more practice.)
I am sure that one or two members are not using selections and layers properly, if at all. If you have problems in this area watch the tutorials for your software and become adept at using both selections, feathering, and layers. Have fun.

A very good attempt, SoHillGuy. You changed the sky, which was a major improvement. (Take care when introducing a new sky, avoid the cutout look which is apparent in the trees/new sky on the right. I'm sure you can find tutorials on how to prevent this, with your software, on Youtube.
The houses are bright red, which is good but would have been even better if they had been a darker red. Why? Because contrasting colors can make a photo really pop. The sky is blue; if the reds had the same tone (Read about the effect of color tones online) the image would have real impact. You know the houses have a minor noise problem, you need to consult your Help files to figure out how to cure that.
All in all a good effort. Worth five thumbs for almost getting there.

Revet, at first glance I thought you had a very strong image (but not bright and bold). I clicked on download. I was suspicious of a few things and downloaded your image and opened it in Affinity Photo. Why did I suspect problems? The sky has been over processed because you used one or more adjustment filters too strongly. What I see is typical of overuse of the Denoise Filter. You certainly got rid of noise in the sky but at the cost of clouds which are way too soft and even appear over-exposed.
The opposite is true of the near house, which needs treatment for get rid of noise. The grass in the foreground appears tangled (not your fault) which should have been cropped away, at least to the white flowers.
This would have been a great image but somehow your enthusiasm and the software ran away with the image. You don't have to use all the tools and filters in the editing program. Select the minimum you need to get the result you want. I think you are using layers or selections to protect the area you are working on, but maybe you need to be more patient and work on one area until it is right. If you use a tool or filter and it looks wrong, click undo and try a different tool or filter.
I was inclined to give three thumbs, but as you clearly had a vision of what you wanted I'll make it four.

Good work, Jim. An excellent crop and the foreground blur is a great idea. The sun beams were not visible, I downloaded your image and opened it in Affinity Photo. Big difference. The sun beams were there at top left. Here's a tip, sun beams work best when they come through a dark area. Imagine a dark forest with the sun beams coming through the trees. Now those beams really have impact. Try it with a dark forest photo from Google images, you'll be amazed. Sun beams are not so good with a light or white area. But you know that now, right?
Magnifying your image to 100% showed the houses and boats as a little soft. Use your Clarity adjustment tool and/or your Sharpen tool to make those houses pop. The sky was not great. In Affinity it looks way better than on the UHH download page. However, it is not the best sky you could use for this image. Personally, I would have chosen a different sky. There are plenty of skies to download from the Internet. The important thing is you are thinking about what you want to achieve. Your use of your software is improving all the time. You were asked for bright and bold colors and you almost got it. Be daring and be a tad brighter with your reds or any color that is your focal point. The green of the vegetation was fine, no problem. The viewers eye was drawn to the house on the left and naturally followed the line of waterside homes into the distance. A perfect example of the illusion of depth. You get five thumbs for technique and creativity. (Brighter and bolder still needed .)

Hello, GalaxyCat. Thank you for your kind comment. If you would care to read the preamble to the images you'll discover that this is a PP Challenge section. Members are requested not to post comments until they have they have posted their image as an interpretation of the challenge. I understand that it is easy to be lead astray when the title appears in the Upcoming Topics section. If you would like to join us PP enthusiasts you would be made very welcome. Thanks.

This challenge is about the focal point in an image. There are all kinds of ways of drawing the viewers eyes to the focal point: you may use railroad tracks, a road, a river, etc,.
A focal point is a point of interest that stands out and makes a photograph unique. Alternatively, a point in the image where rays of light converge; for example the sun with rays of light emanating from it. (There are plenty of articles online about the focal point in photography.)

In this Challenge we aim to use color to create the focal point. The color must attract the eye. Now we are adding to your skills by concentrating on creating a focal point using color alone. See the image below. (Is this image natural? No! The image is enhanced to sell a place or product.)

The second image is Alno, Sweden (Photo from Pixabay,com). Your work image is split 50/50 (more or less) between sky and land. Most of the work photo below is a cloud filled sky, red buildings, and green vegetation. You chose the focal point for this image. (The point which attracts the viewers eyes first.) Change the sky if you wish. Crop the way you want to make either sky or land dominate. Use color to draw the viewers eye to the focal point. Also use bold bright colors to enhance the village. Get rid of elements which lead your eye away from the focal point. You can all do this . . . but stop and think before you rush at it. You as the PP aficionado are able to create this photo magic.
Have fun.

PLEASE do not comment until you have posted your interpretation of the work image below.

No RAW file. The .png file will be fine.

Example of Bright Colors and Focal Point

(Download)

Your Work Image.

(Download)