The wait in hope

This a new project I'm currently working on. I've started a photo manipulation in photoshop with a picture that my family took while on a trip in Cuba.

Here is the original picture followed by my photo manipulation.

The story is of a women waiting  for her loved one, looking at large to see if he is coming back home....hoping that maybe that little boat out there is the one bring him back.

First I've drawn the women over my beloved mom and aunt that were a bit disappointed that I didn't keep them as models ! :-)  Doing so I had to redraw some parts of the branch and rock.

Than I soften the ocean a little and applied a filter but that didn't quite work out that well. I had to soften the ocean again. Once I had the desired texture I made some highlights in the sky. I added a sail which I took from a photograph that I found on google. I had to modify it a bit because the original was too dark and it didn't fit in with the light. In order to make the sunbeams believable I added clouds to create the illusion that the sun is hidden by them but its sunbeams are getting through.

Finally I added more volume to the shore on the right making it darker and steeper.