60-Hour Post-Processing Challenge #636 (closed, results posted)

[WhidbeyLVR]

Public Market in Libourne, France.

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This challenge is, I think, on the higher difficulty side. The framing is. . . umm. . . vague. The DR of the image left both blown highlights and lost shadows while being dark overall. The color cast is extreme and variable across the frame. The sample above has been doctored so it doesn't appear too evil -- but don't be fooled, it is wicked to its bones! Let's see what you can do with it.

Raw and JPEG files are here.

Challenge will close on St. Valentine's Day, Sunday, February 14th at 8:00AM Seattle local time (UTC-08:00).

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Post-Processing Challenge Rules

1. The Challenge Master provides an image or images to be "improved" upon by way of post-processing, as well as a closing date for entries.
2. Entrants are to post their entries, visible in this thread, at a resolution of 1000 to 1600 pixels in the longest dimension, prior to the closing date.
3. Each entrant is allowed two entries in the Challenge.
4. At the close of the Challenge, the Challenge Master will select a Winner and Runners-up.
5. The Winner of the challenge is honored as the Master of the next Challenge.

Notes:

• Images provided by Challenge Masters must be their own. They are posted solely for the purpose of this Challenge; not to invite critique or criticism nor for other uses. If Entrants post their entries at a photo sharing site, they should credit the owner of the original image.
• "Improve" is a subjective term, and may include many creative ideas, as well as traditional "fixing". The Challenge Master agrees that Entrants may make any changes they deem fit in their entries.
• Entrants are strongly encouraged to share the tools and techniques used for their entries, however this is not a requirement for entry.
• Compositing is allowed, provided the use of the donor image does not violate any licensing or copyright restrictions.
• As we all know, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. The Challenge Master is encouraged (but not required) to state the criteria used to decide upon a Winner. While we may not all agree with the result, the Challenge Master's decision is final. Please refrain from posting adverse comment.
• If the Winner is unable to post a new Challenge within five days, the honor passes to the next Runner-up.

 

[Paul C]

OW - that was fiendish - what sort of light bulbs were those lighting up the scene - some sort of flourescent with a narrow spectrum of colour??

and with those coloured awnings overhead you couldn't even bouce a crafty flash fill-in to neutralise the colour, could you

• I tried DXO
• I tried Photoshop - and got further and further from reality
• I tried admitting defeat and giving to make it black and white
• Eventually I admitted (partial) defeat and cropped out a lot of the image that I could not correct and used Aurora to take down the saturation while adding back some micro contrast and did some dodge and burn to bring out the 2 ladies faces - is that a cheat?

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oh for the joys of photographing a busy market again - no COVID masks where you were then!

Best wishes to you all - Paul C in the UK

 

[RichardC]

Cruel and nasty.

Entry 1.

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My starting point was to open in Lightroom, where I could do absolutely nothing with the image because there are different colour casts in different areas of the picture.

So, in Photoshop I picked three or four points on skin tones and attempted to get somewhere close to where they perhaps should be - more red than green, and more green than blue.

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Lifted the red curve a little and lifted the greens and blues a lot.

Next I used Lumenzia to create a luminosity mask to isolate the light areas which by now had gone horribly cyan.

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Lowered the highlights and neutralised the colour cast.

Finished off in Adobe Camera Raw.

 

[Paul C]

OK - and for my second attempt - the real cowards way out - cropped and converted to high contrast B&W !

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To add to the scene - I did a lot of painting micro-contrast and black back into the price signs and the box ends to boost the market feel.

So now I am going for the 1952 Cartier-Bresson look with the "Decisive Moment" as the money changes hand (good photo timing Lyle !)

What a good time to revisit the "Decisive Moment"- it always brings a smile to my face when I get my copy of his book down to inspire me.

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Thanks for the challenge!
Best wishes - Paul

 

[BosseBe]

Used the ORF file in DxO PL4, some spot wheighted Smart Lighting on the faces, contrast, a little positive Gamma, an auto mask for the parts under the awning with WB adjustment, finally adjusted the horizon a little bit.
Entry #1:

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[relic]

I attempted editing the raw file in DxO PL2 then tweaked in Elements. Mainly fiddling with light and color.

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[BosseBe]

The usual B&W became something else as I started to plau with the Channel mixer and the HSL channels, found some interesting magenta to enhance and kept the yellow.
Entry #2:

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[mumu]

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I'm not 100% satisfied with this edit and may submit a 2nd attempt after I take some time for further reflection.

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

I am glad you are all having a grand time.

 

[protapic]

Initial treatment DXO PL4 for Deep prime and white balance adjustment on the white part of store owners shirt. Over to LR for crop, and then concentric applications of oval feathered temperature adjustments outward from center of action to accommodate odd lighting. And then some added saturation onto selected fruits.

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[Rob Rider]

#1
ACR open, camera natural and then the eyedrop tool on the white box to get the color closer. Then a 4X6 crop and a little cloning to eliminate the white table in the foreground.

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[roboroto]

I think this is exactly what the new color calibration module in DT3.4 is useful for. The problem is that we'll need to wait for a user who actually can do the right things with it.

#1

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[todd phillips]

View attachment 873310
I'm not 100% satisfied with this edit and may submit a 2nd attempt after I take some time for further reflection.

Can't believe somebody beat me to this! Now what am I going to do!?

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

#2
number 2 ha ha
Well, I couldn't resist as this is what came to my twisted mind. Hopefully this is no one you know.

View attachment 873330

Uncle Bob!

 

[todd phillips]

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[mumu]

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I took the coward's way out and converted to b&w rather than wrestle (and lose) with trying to fix the disparate light sources. (I stole Paul C's idea so if I win I promise to split the $1000 prize money with him.)
Used a bit of a vignette plus a grad filter to darken the distracting light coloured potatoes. Cleaned up the image a bit via Deep Prime. Worked on the women's hands to emphasize the money exchange and also made the note more contrasty. Also darkened the box behind the right woman's hand so her hand is more prominent. Lightened the faces of the women exchanging money. Darkened the plastic wrapping behind the left woman's arm so it is less distracting.

 

[mumu]

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I can't leave well enough alone! I adjusted the tone curve a bit.

 

[Kae1]

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[Robert Davidson]

View attachment 873310
I'm not 100% satisfied with this edit and may submit a 2nd attempt after I take some time for further reflection.

I was waiting for this entry..thought someone would do it. Ha Ha!

 

[Robert Davidson]

ACR and Photoshop.
#1.

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