72-Hour Post-Processing Competition #640 - Closed & Results

[Zeus1]

Competition closed, I even have the results....


First off, apologies to all: I understand that this was a difficult one...too crowded, difficult zones of lighting and colour temperature.

As to judging, I eliminated all entries where the snow patch was too blue (colour balance not right). Some of You were smart enough to either crop it out, or turn it into black and white.
Darek (@Zapp DJR), I don’t understand the red (Japanese?) sign...Furthermore, Your fog is IMO unrealistic (look at the border between the fog and the tree).
Richard (@RichardC), nice crop, nice B/W but why the light rays in the top left corner?
Robert (@Robert Davidson), I don’t use Aurora anymore, I find it tends to oversaturate way too much. I reverted to Photomatix Pro and mainly use its “Fusion” settings’

Final results:
#3 B/W entry from Bo (@BosseBe)
#2 Lyle (@WhidbeyLVR): very pleasing overall, but the water was really more brown (and yes, Your preferred second place )
#1 Rob Rider (@Rob Rider)entry #1: I also prefer this tight crop, I even cropped out the tree completely.

Over to You, Rob!

 

[Zeus1]

My take on this picture...

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

 

[Zapp DJR]

...
Darek (@Zapp DJR), I don’t understand the red (Japanese?) sign...Furthermore, Your fog is IMO unrealistic (look at the border between the fog and the tree).
...

Fully agreed. The #2 was just fooling around.
As for the symbol: it was meant to replicate the ones from Blair Witch Project.

 

[RichardC]

why the light rays in the top left corner?

Why? Because I like to play with PP software of course

 

[Rob Rider]

Competition closed, I even have the results....


First off, apologies to all: I understand that this was a difficult one...too crowded, difficult zones of lighting and colour temperature.

As to judging, I eliminated all entries where the snow patch was too blue (colour balance not right). Some of You were smart enough to either crop it out, or turn it into black and white.
Darek (@Zapp DJR), I don’t understand the red (Japanese?) sign...Furthermore, Your fog is IMO unrealistic (look at the border between the fog and the tree).
Richard (@RichardC), nice crop, nice B/W but why the light rays in the top left corner?
Robert (@Robert Davidson), I don’t use Aurora anymore, I find it tends to oversaturate way too much. I reverted to Photomatix Pro and mainly use its “Fusion” settings’

Final results:
#3 B/W entry from Bo (@BosseBe)
#2 Lyle (@WhidbeyLVR): very pleasing overall, but the water was really more brown (and yes, Your preferred second place )
#1 Rob Rider (@Rob Rider)entry #1: I also prefer this tight crop, I even cropped out the tree completely.

Over to You, Rob!

Thanks for the win. I am surprised as I thought the entries where the water was cleared of the yellow/brown tones looked the best.
I cropped in close as I thought the water movement was the most interesting area of the photo. By the time I entered there were many good examples of the entire frame and another would not stand out one way or the other.
I will get the next challenge ready to go by this evening.

 

[BosseBe]

Thanks @Zeus1 for the perfect spot, best B&W and 3rd place, virtually no risk of having to step up.

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

#2 Lyle (@WhidbeyLVR): very pleasing overall, but the water was really more brown (and yes, Your preferred second place )

Thank you so much for my perfect placement!

I have seen and photographed brown (plus green, yellow, and glacial-flour turquoise) water many times. But when I see the brown water on my computer screen, I am always surprised just how brown it looks. I know the camera isn’t lying, but my memory of moments like this is of rushing, burbling water, forest air, glints of light on the rapids and runnels, and the dark calm of the side pools. I often see moving water rendered with very long exposures, which is velvety-smooth and artsy, but I personally prefer shutter speeds in the quarter-second range, which maintains the wildness of the water’s motion. So I liked your image a lot. And I tamed the brown to match my feelings rather than facts.

 

[Rob Rider]

#641 is up here https://www.mu-43.com/threads/72-hour-post-processing-challenge-641.110684/