60-Hour Post-Processing Challenge #601 (closed, results posted)

[WhidbeyLVR]

About birds, 3 birds in the sky and a possible air-plane?
Picture out of contest of course!
View attachment 853385

I found a few more UFOs:

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There are also a few unexplained bright points on the dark mountain.

 

[BosseBe]

I found a few more UFOs:

Maybe there is a flight lane up there so a lot of planes are visible due to the fantastic resolution of camera and lens?
The bright areas in the mountains are probably just trash.

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

Maybe there is a flight lane up there so a lot of planes are visible due to the fantastic resolution of camera and lens?
The bright areas in the mountains are probably just trash.

Oh. Maybe. I just assumed it was my fantastic technique.

But you're right. The m.Z14-150 II is renowned for its acuity. Still, it's probably at its best at f/8 and on the wide end of the range.

Mt Baker tops at 10,780 ft. (3286 m) and the direction of view is about halfway between Seattle and Vancouver. The Navy flies from Whidbey Island, but they are usually (not always) lower and over the water rather than the mountains. I also checked some adjacent images looking for stuck pixels, but didn't find anything obvious.

 

[Fred S]

Beautiful Shot
Here is my attempt . Basic Adjustments

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[rpatodia]

Looks like the E-M5 Mk3 isn't widely supported yet, so I edited the EXIF data in a copy of the raw file to E-M1MarkII. It now opens in DxO PL2 and presumably other editors. The modified raw file is now available here.

Thanks a lot

 

[rpatodia]

Raw file edited in DxO PL2

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[WhidbeyLVR]

Thanks a lot

If you were unhappy using the jpeg in your first entry, you are always free to replace it.

(not making any judgement about any entry right now, just saying you are free to modify or replace any entry prior to closing).

 

[Rob Rider]

#2
I started over again with olympus workspace then back to photoshop. I also used Nik tools detail extract at a low setting. Just playing to see what might look nice. There is a lot to see when you look around.

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[relic]

Entry #2: started over using the (EXIF-modified) raw file. Same procedures as entry #1, but with somewhat different results (I think mainly due to user variability).

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[Zeus1]

Entry #1 in color.

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​

 

[Zeus1]

Entry #2 BW

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[WhidbeyLVR]

Challenge closed. Results in a bit.

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

I found this image difficult to deal with. The sharp contrast between the light and shadows hurt my eyes and there was too little detail in the shadows (even the hazy-gray distant ones). The mountain top and sky were over-bright. So I threw it to you to see what you came up with. The results were quite good! In general, the entries that addressed my issues rose high in my rankings. I also found I preferred the color entries over B&W, and did not prefer the tighter crops. Finally, I noticed banding in the sky in several entries -- not sure the source of that.

Winner: @Hendrik #1. Big bird aside, I think you best dealt with the problems without introducing new ones. Nice entry!

1st Runner-Up: @Rob Rider #2. I liked your processing of the forested slopes and shadows best, but the glaciers and sky were too blue, and there was banding in the sky.

2nd Runner-Up: @rpatodia #1.

Thanks to all who participated. I hope you enjoyed the challenge. Back to you, Hendrik!

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

Here is my take on the scene. I didn't like the broken trees on the left and lower-center, so I did a mild crop and cloned out the center stump. And I doubled the size of the bird.

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As usual, the heavy lifting was in DxO Pl3, with tweaks in Gimp/Nik tools.

 

[Hendrik]

Thanks, Lyle! And, to think, I thought, with the high level of other entries, I had made the image light enough to be safe.

I have a few possibilities in mind. #602 should follow shortly.

 

[Hendrik]

Challenge #602 is live