Restoring color project

[Pipsmom]

I worked with this photo today for a few hours and the results weren't to my standards...
So after reading and watching tutorials....... tomorrow I will approach it differently but need your input if this will correct one particular area that's driving me bonkers ( the red/brown undelevloped area to the left in the water). No matter what I do I can't seem to pull it out as it's shadows on the waters edge.
My plan is to remove the yellow color cast, add back color using levels and the eye dropper tool, color balance then adjust shadows and highlights.
Do you think this is a good way to approach that nuisance red/brown color present in the shadows

This is my project

 

[Eggy]

First I would remove the spots with the spot healing tool.
Then I would reduce the noise.
Then try 'image/autocolor'.



Then add an adjustment layer hue/saturation like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGKkTP1P78I
This tutorial is about red skin but of course you can use it in this case.



Add a high pass filter set at 3 px and set the blend mode at soft light to sharpen the image.



If it is only restoring no need to go further.
But its up to you to experiment...
Make a composite snapshot (shift+ctrl+alt+E)(do NOT merge the layers!) and experiment with the camera raw filters.

 

[Pipsmom]

Thank you for those tips Eggy. I got antsy to get started early and combined some un orthodox techniques and I'm somewhat satisfied with this lesson... needed more care blending though...since its for practice I don't think I will take it any further but I never say never lol. Got 4 more to play with but not as bad as this one was.
Final results this morning

 

[Eggy]

Don't try to go overboard when correcting, it will look unnatural.
The hull of the ship is in shadow and so is the shadow part in the water so don't remove it, it is the reality.

 

[Pipsmom]

My shadow work indeed needs more work..I haven't got that right yet but I trying :neutral:

 

[chrisdesign]

This is what I came up with.
I used hue/saturation to reduce the yellow cast.
Then I made selections and worked with the curves in each chanel to get back some "natural colors".

 

[Pipsmom]

Wow Chris! Thats exactly what I was aiming for yesterday when I started...but failed miserably. Thank you for showing me it really can be done.
So you used Hue/Saturation instead of a cooling filter .....I need to watch more tutorials as I obviously don't understand that part correctly. Thank you all for the tips

 

[thebestcpu]

Hi Pipsmom
Here was my try just using Adobe Camera Raw. Maybe not quite as realistic yet I still liked the look.

 

[Pipsmom]

Yours reminds me of a earlier version I started on yesterday......maybe I should have continued on with this one after all.