Specific Sand dune color and contrast

[esh36photo]

I have spent forever trying to get this image to look decent bc I cannot seem to get the color or the contrast correct. The sand frpm the upper and lower peaks comes out looking too yellow, and there is way too much contrast for my liking. Help would be much appreciated.

 

[sousou707]

better?

 

[thebestcpu]

Certainly open for artistic interpretation. I made it a Smart Object and made some tonal/color adjustments and then added a Gradient Adjustment Layer so the gray tones would scale in color more realistically (in my mind). I adjusted to tone in the middle dunes to be a bit more interesting as well.
Hope this helps
John Wheeler

 

[esh36photo]

better?View attachment 95251

, post: 1533783449, member: 128558"]better?View attachment 95251[/QUOTE]
sousou707 Thank you for the reply! You have definitely evened things out, which I was struggling very hard to do. I think if I just work on the color now it should be smoother sailing. Thank you for your help!

 

[esh36photo]

Certainly open for artistic interpretation. I made it a Smart Object and made some tonal/color adjustments and then added a Gradient Adjustment Layer so the gray tones would scale in color more realistically (in my mind). I adjusted to tone in the middle dunes to be a bit more interesting as well.
Hope this helps
John Wheeler

View attachment 95252

thebestcpu I like it a lot! I have never used a gradient adjustment layer before, so that's definitely something I need to look into playing around with. But what you've done looks exactly like what I had in my head. Thank you so much!

 

[thebestcpu]

thebestcpu I like it a lot! I have never used a gradient adjustment layer before, so that's definitely something I need to look into playing around with. But what you've done looks exactly like what I had in my head. Thank you so much!

You're welcome.
John Wheeler