48-Hour Post-Processing Challenge #559 (closed, results announced)

[WhidbeyLVR]

The challenge is now closed. Results soon, but maybe not until tomorrow.

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

This one has been much tougher than usual to judge. Your entries provided a good range of approaches and most dealt admirably with the high dynamic range. There seemed to be three rough groupings of entries, and a few outliers that didn't fit easily into one of the groups. The groups as I saw them were: (1) silhouette-ish (darker shadows), (2) bright dusk (well-lit shadows) , and (3) HDR/fantasy colors. I think all these approaches are valid, and I am choosing one from each group as finalists. I didn't think that B&W treatments did much for this image. Likewise, the art filter treatments. Sorry.

Of the Silhouette-ish group, I liked @BosseBe #1 (darker) and @Jay_M (lighter, almost group 2) best, with a slight preference for Bo's.

Of the Bright Dusk group, I liked @gwydionjhr and @Hendrik #1 best, with the nod to Joel.

Of the HDR/Fantasy group, my picks were @RichardC #2 and @Robert Davidson #1 . . .

And the winner is . . . @RichardC #2. The color is all wrong , but it's pleasing to look at. I loved all the other little details . The tower is pretty straight, the berm in the foreground is pretty straight. The lamps glow. There is no snow. There's a nice white border (j/k -- no bonus points for the border).

1st Runner-Up: @gwydionjhr . Nice processing. I only wish the color had been a bit more saturated.

2nd Runner-Up: @BosseBe #1.

Sunset in Paris on June 28th is around 10 PM. The silhouette treatments are closer to actual conditions. It was a pleasant evening and folks were waiting around for the tower lights after sunset.

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

My take on the scene (from the middle exposure raw file):

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

 

[gwydionjhr]

Wow! Thanks!

Like I said before... I may not be first, but at least I'm next!

 

[RichardC]

Thank you very much!

For the record - my colours are ALWAYS wrong. I was trained to print warm on the grounds that if Northern European brides saw images of what they actually looked like on the day, they wouldn't buy the pictures. It's a tough habit to break.

I have an image in mind - I'll post a new challenge later today.

 

[RichardC]

48 hour post processing challenge #560 is now live

https://www.mu-43.com/threads/48hr-post-processing-challenge-560.108524/