Post Processing Challenge #522 - CLOSED - Winners Announced!

[betamax]

Taken six years ago now (wow), using my then new E-PL5.

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Link to jpeg and raw files is here: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Av3t3-eGT_5xmCeh1b3RvcIPSgJw?e=gyxGvb

Contest closes sometime after Wednesday 10pm Sydney time, Wednesday 11am in London and 6am New York.

72-Hour 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 honoured as the Master of the next Challenge.

Notes:

• Any/all source images used for the challenge must be the Challenge Master's own images. 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.
• 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 honour passes to the next Runner-up.

Enjoy!

 

[RichardC]

Great shot.

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[BosseBe]

Beautiful picture, nothing wrong as far as I can see, so only a little Smart Lighting, ClearView, Contrast and Saturation in DxO PL3. Ooh and I lowered the Gamma a bit.
Edit: When I looked at the picture again I realized it was to yellow (?) so I decided to change the WB by picking a part of the stonework as my WB point, I think the stone should be grey.
So here is a new entry #1 (I'm still working on #2 will probably be a B&W as usual.):

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I also got rid of some bright red or orange clothed people.

 

[Walter]

#1
Beautiful photo, Alan. Worked on the clouds and on the colours trying to keep the grass and the stone tones natural. Just a few minor adjustments.
Any kind of cropping would have caused loss of interesting parts of the photo, though I might give that another attempt.

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[Walter]

#2
Well, as the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
Some playing around with other formats. Most don't lead anywhere. Changing to 4:3 does not cause a loss of essential details but improves the overall composition of the photo as both mountain peaks are now roughly in the thirds. And it reinforces the two diagonal lines in the photo.

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[roelwillems]

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What a beautiful photograph would love to visit this place sometime!
Image #1: Post-processing I tried to focus on the texture in the image from the man-made structures and the massive mountain. Added some depth with selective dodging and burning. The crop is quite comparable to some other contribution but I went with a 4:5 to remove some of the foreground grass.

Edit: uploaded the wrong export, added the correct one.

 

[roelwillems]

As most contributions, as well as my first, went with 4:3 / 4:5 crop I wanted to do a 16:9.

I tried B&W. Did some additional dodging and burning. Quite happy with the results as the people in the picture are less visible and the trees add an interesting touch in the light area.

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But do think the color version (edited with a more muted color palette) works better. So that would be my #2 for the competition and personal favorite:

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[BosseBe]

Entry #2 a B&W version with some additional tweaking:

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All done DxO.

 

[Robert Davidson]

My first entry

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[WhidbeyLVR]

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[relic]

Another great capture. Edited raw file in DxO PL2: since the shadow of the tree was "soft", I selected a WB between sunny and cloudy, used some Clearview, and some minor tweaks then exported as tiff. I tweaked the tiff file some more in Elements, including increasing contrast and reducing saturation. Cropped a bit from the bottom.

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[BosseBe]

Another great capture. Edited raw file in DxO PL2: since I couldn't see shadows, I selected "cloudy" as WB, used some Clearview, and some minor tweaks then exported as tiff. I tweaked the tiff file some more in Elements, including increasing contrast and reducing saturation. Cropped a bit from the bottom.

View attachment 798880

I understand that you have a workflow that you are familiar with, but why not try to do it all in DxO? Contrast, saturation and cropping is all available in DxO.

 

[relic]

I understand that you have a workflow that you are familiar with, but why not try to do it all in DxO? Contrast, saturation and cropping is all available in DxO.

Thank you for your suggestion. For some reason, probably because as you said, I am familiar with my workflow, I more comfortable with many functions in Elements. And since I have both programs, I am too lazy to try to learn doing everything in DxO. One factor is the fact that Elements lets me do layers (although I've never learned to use those effectively, e.g. I don't do masks) I find it "comfortable" that I'm only altering the layer and if I mess up I can delete the layer and start over. I know DxO allows me to undelete, but it doesn't tell me what step I'm undeleting, so if I have to undelet several steps, I lose track of where I am. In contrast Elements tells me what step I am undeleting (which I find very useful when I do that for several steps).

 

[BosseBe]

Thank you for your suggestion. For some reason, probably because as you said, I am familiar with my workflow, I more comfortable with many functions in Elements. And since I have both programs, I am too lazy to try to learn doing everything in DxO. One factor is the fact that Elements lets me do layers (although I've never learned to use those effectively, e.g. I don't do masks) I find it "comfortable" that I'm only altering the layer and if I mess up I can delete the layer and start over. I know DxO allows me to undelete, but it doesn't tell me what step I'm undeleting, so if I have to undelet several steps, I lose track of where I am. In contrast Elements tells me what step I am undeleting (which I find very useful when I do that for several steps).

And I'm too lazy to try to learn Elements, even if I know that using layers could benefit my PP, someday when I feel I have the time I will try to find an online course to learn about layers. ?
BTW, in DxO you can always turn a specific control On and Off, no history needed.

 

[relic]

Entry #2: Black and white version-- applied Nik Silver Efex to entry #1.

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[Fred S]

Entry # 1
Processed raw in Affinity Photo

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[GregRed]

#1

Many Luminar 4 adjustments involving LUTs, masks, "Adjustible Gradients," HSL, colour contrast. etc. (all in an attempt to render an image that doesn't look too processed LOL). Some Topaz Sharpen AI to finish it up:

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[todd]

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[Rob Rider]

#1
I opened the raw file in ACR used Adobe landscape color and as shot for WB
I selected the clouds and darkened them to get some detail and burned the lower left corner.
I cropped it in a bit closer to see the detail.
I went to Topaz Studio 2 to use the precision contrast and precision detail.
I then used Topaz Denoise AI.
I've read that this is quite a hike to see this!

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[ata3001]

This is my first go at it using LR & PS

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