Version 1, 2, or 3 Post Processing

I love this photo, but can't really settle on one post processing style to actually get printed for my wall in my 'man-room'. Right now I'm liking 2.

Of course this is all very style-dependent, but I am curious what other people think about it.

Version 1: Fairly straight processing allowing red channel to clip quite a bit in order to preserve the real overall warmth of the scene. Unaltered tonal distribution across the frame.

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i would love to hear the backstory to this shot, it is so frickin cinematic. y`ou have a hard choice here but i think i would vote for another edit somewhere between 1 and 2, i think you can find a happy mid point. i would also suggest cloning out the people at the bottom, or at the very minimum the person whose bottom torso is cropped out. i think it would be a much stronger image without them detracting from the truck.

LOL at the poll results. I agree with the above statement.

Though I prefer understated HDR efforts, I really like the detail shown in the distant hills and the clouds in #3. +1 on cloning out the half a boy ... at first I thought all the people were distracting but the group behind the barbed wire are an important part of the composition IMO. Also needs to be straightened, it's tilting to the right.

Absolutely version #1, clone out the boy.

That is one stunning picture. I think I like the first one best - but then again, I'm a sucker for warm tones =P

Well I'm still a fan of the second version, but I do like the warmth of the first. Funny thing was, it was pretty cold that night. While Afghanistan is made famous for its severe heat in the summers, it still gets below freezing on a winter night, which broke our showers and washers/dryers more than a few times.

I like the pop that the dust in the distance has in this version as well, it sticks out a bit more than in version 1, since I was able to bring up the contrast without clipping the highlights as much thanks to reduced saturation of the red channel.

I got rid of the half-boy, I really like it, good suggestion

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Definitely #1 for me!

nat geo shot for sure!

Without any narrative, it's hard to understand the significance of the barbed wire. As it stands, I'd certainly want to crop the wire out and go for the vehicle into sunset shot with the 2nd processing.

corkneyfonz wrote in post #12688982
Without any narrative, it's hard to understand the significance of the barbed wire. As it stands, I'd certainly want to crop the wire out and go for the vehicle into sunset shot with the 2nd processing.

Agreed! What a good eye! I still like #1 though!

awesome pic mate. Agree it looks better without the half person in the foreground. I don't like the way the location of the sun isn't as obvious in #3 - it's not as bright as the others in relation to the rest of the sky.

You should be very proud of the pic though

corkneyfonz wrote in post #12688982
Without any narrative, it's hard to understand the significance of the barbed wire. As it stands, I'd certainly want to crop the wire out and go for the vehicle into sunset shot with the 2nd processing.

The book that I'm making of my time in Afghanistan includes some captions with the pictures, and the book as a whole makes a pretty good context to what the wire is. This was taken from on top of an Afghan Police checkpoint at a School and Mosque.

The kid and his goats are a part of the old Afghanistan that is being replaced with a modern afghanistan, the car. 2 years ago this road was barely wide enough or stable enough to fit a Ford F150; as you are reading this, the paving is being finished, as well as the implementation of IED deterrent features. This will allow the speedy and much safer travel of multi-ton tractor trailers and personal trucks, that will increase trade opportunity between the mostly poor rural farmers, and the large city of Kandahar.

The majority of this economic development is the result of the war their, and the ISAF policy to hire local contracts whenever possible. It has greatly stimulated the economic growth of the country, however as will all economic growth since the beginning of recorded history, culture also changes, and some elements are lost.

So it was intentional that the representative of old Afghanistan was somewhat obscured/trapped by the C Wire, as the newer Afghanistan is free to continue down the road.