Color?

[jaem]

Hello everyone. I've been working on an image that is turning out to be a lot more challenging than I thought it would be. It looks like the photo was originally in color, but the color is so washed out that I'm almost wondering if it would be better in black and white. What I have right now is about all the color that I think I can get out of it. So I'm just looking for some opinions on if  it looks OK like this, if I should try adding in more color or if I should just turn it into a grayscale. I know I still have to add in that big missing chunk on the left, but I am not as concerned about that right now.

Before


After


Thank you!

[Tori803]

Perhaps you could do two versions, a black and white (in case all else fails), and a color version. For the color, because the dyes have separated, you have areas, like the lower right, where cyan is more pronounced, and other areas where magenta is stronger. The big tree in the foreground is two different colors. So one Curves layer won't solve all problems. You could do several Curves adjustment layers, each one focused on a single problem area, and mask out what you don't need. Then the distributor can decide which is best.

[jaem]

Good ideas. Thanks!