‘Aqua Splash,’ Mexico, Puerto Vallarta, Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit Hotel & Resort, Pool

I grew up in a place where the water is rarely warm enough to keep away the goose bumps.  I OBVIOUSLY didn’t grow up in Mexico.  The ocean, pool, and seaside breeze are consistently a perfect temperature in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

This photo needed to have more depth after I examined my first snap of this tiki hut and pool.  How does one do this without perspective?  You’d be surprised how often tweaking/controlling colors and their intensity/luminosity can create depth within a photo.  The shot above is a good example of color and depth.  When I first took this photo it was relatively flat.  The sky’s color was not all that different than the pool.  I threw a neutral density filter on top 1/3 of my lens and instantly the ocean and tiki bar became a bit more strong, while the foreground remained a much lighter value.  I was then able to isolate the individual blue colors in Adobe Lightroom, adding/decreasing their values, to give it the perfect touch.

The result is a strong blue ocean, sky and tiki bar that draws your eye back into the photo.  The soft aqua colored pool, on the other hand, is easy on the eye and really just makes you want to jump in.