Photograph or Painting?

Since opening The gallery in Port Jeff, I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on a photograph turned painting I took in Central Park.  It’s of a Horse & Carriage rounding a bend with snow falling all around. Very New York and VERY Central park.

So why turn it into a “painting.” First off, I believe in using the painting technique very sparingly. Most images do not lend themselves to the translation very well. But sometimes when finishing a photograph in post I just kinda get that look, that it needs something more, or something different to really make it come to life. in the case of Horse & Carriage, I felt  “painting”  the photograph lent a more dreamy, surreal feel to the image- it short it added more “romance” to an already romantic shot.

Felt the same with the shots below.  This is Front Street in Hamilton, Bermuda. A great city to street shoot because of the vibrant colors of its buildings, and old world building construction- lots of columns, brick, etc.

Here’s the original shot with a Contrast Boost ion CS3.

After considering it in CS3.. felt it was a bit flat… so, switched over to Corel Painter 4 and applied a detailed watercolor treatment on rough paper.

I guess it comes down to personal taste. I like the painted image a little bit better… How bout you? 🙂