Before and After - The Weekly Editing Challenge

Luminosity masks on all three layers for the most part.

Edited in Lightroom CC:
Used all 3 shots, merged with HDR functionality of LR.
Contrast +, Highlights -, shadows +, clarity ++, vibrance -, saturation +, Tone curve to boost the lights, dehaze +, and a slight crop.

So, it’s crunch time Firstly thank you to all who participated, I was not disappointed. Here are some brief thoughts about all the processed images.

01Ryan10 - Very pleasing with good, natural colour rendering. The green grass is green and shows some detail but perhaps it should have been a tad paler.

Benitoite - nice pastel colours but not natural. Yes the grass is green but the darkness introduces too much contrast. too much contrast

Bianchi - I do like the cloud replacement, that is very well done. I also like the wooden pier, that improves the composition. But the sea looks too blue and the almost black foreground kills it. As you used LR, why did you not merge to HDR and then add your manipulations?

Cfdesigns - sorry, but the colours look weird to me! That’s probably because you used the Photoshop HDR function. I have never come to terms with it myself.

Jethr0 - The menacing clouds are fine - and the orange sky beneath them. But below that there is too much contrast in the sea and the black foreground is not for me. I feel sure that LR Merge to HDR should be able to pull out the dark green grass in the foreground.

Mozes - I approve the crop you have made and you certainly created “mood” but Mozzer magnificence is lacking!

Navydoc - An attractive manipulation but I think you should have cropped all or most of the black foreground

Pebal - As usual, this have a very realistic look but I think a bit more brilliance would have improved it.

There are joint winners this week.
01Ryan10

01Ryan10 wrote in post #18404020
Luminosity masks on all three layers for the most part.

and

Pebal

Pebal wrote in post #18402895
Processed in the SNS-HDR Pro.

Hosted photo: posted by Pebal in
./showthread.php?p=184​02895&i=i140869712
forum: Competitions

Congratulations to both of you

As I know that Sebastian (Pebal) is not a photographer, I am handing the torch to 01Ryan10 to organise the next competition.

P.S. This was my interpretation. I used DxO Optics Pro (for lens correction and denoising) -> SNS-HDR -> then minor tweaks in Photoshop.

Thanks Martin.

Congrats Ryan and Pebal

Stiga I liked the fact you critiqued every ones image, it gives the contestants a perspective on the judge. I learned years ago if you are going to enter a contest, know what the judge likes and dislikes and there style of shooting.

As for the comments pertaining to my entry, I live rurally with slow internet, and I had trouble uploading your files from media fire, for me it took forever on a couple different tries, so I just used your jpeg sample you posted here. So unable to merge three images.. When it comes to merging images my go to is Luminosity Masks, not using HDR programs, although I have several. Check out Jimmy McIntyre on U tube also from Scotland .. It's a learning curve for sure, but so beneficial.

Thank you. Mine looks almost identical to Stiga's.

I am at work right now. I spent all of Saturday evening into Sunday morning awake and shooting various areas of Joshua Tree. In fact, I don't think I slept. lol. Anyways, when I get home, I will grab an image from that trip to post here.

I was at Joshua Tree alone doing an all night photography adventure this past weekend. Here is an image you all can edit.

Before and After - The Weekly Editing Challenge
...now compiled into a single, easy to locate thread, that can be added to your subscribe/follow list!

Rules are simple:

• Download the image file from the current week
  
  
• Contestants will have 7 days to edit the image and post their edited version to the thread (1 entry per week)
  
  
• The owner of the original image will choose a winner
  
  
• The winner will copy & paste this post and include a new downloadable image link

  The new image must be unedited / SOOC (straight our of camera), full-resolution, and in a RAW format, ie. CR2, DNG, TIF, etc
  (Dropbox works well for uploading and linking these large files)

I have 2 version of this image. Editet with LR

A conversion by RawTherapee 5.2. Exposure curves, tonemapping, and adjustments to red channel.

Processed in the SNS-HDR Pro, converted to JPEG in the CNX.
Image from external link because compression on the forum destroying the red areas.

Lr basic adjustments and some brush work, onto Ps removed the orange overflow to the right and white light in cave then sharpened sky and cave just a little.

Basic edits in acr and played with luminosity masks and filters in photoshop

My apologies for the delay. I camped in the Sierras and got back yesterday. Here is my feedback.

The image is of the Milky Way with "Skull Rock" in the foreground at Joshua Tree National Park.


FFFCFF: I don't mind the purple-ish sky. It is a style i'm indifferent to. There is some heavy "halo-ing" around the edges of the skull on "Skull Rock". There is also some odd orange on top of the skull. I do prefer the 2nd image, but there is still too much halo-ing for my taste around the skull.


Mozes: Nice balance of light. The sky is a bit too hazy for me, and perhaps the skull is a little too bright, but overall good.


Benitoite: I like the blacker and darker look to the sky. The Milky Way looks almost as it does with the naked eye, so you've not over processed it. With that said, I do like to see a little more colors and brightness of the MW. The skull is really in my face and seems a little more contrasty than what I would have done with it. Overall I like it.


Pebal: I like the processing of both the sky, MW, and skull. The only real issue I see is the slight halo-ing around the skull. Overall good edit.


Bianchi: I know you've got that paint style and a lot of images I like it. I feel the MW was kind of painted if that makes sense. It does not appear to be sharp anymore. I like everything else you did, but that MW though.


CFdesigns: I'm not sure what happened to the sky, but it looks noticeably blurry. If that was intentional, I'm not digging it. If it was sharp, you'd have been my pick.


My choice for winner is Pebal!


I have not yet had a chance to edit the picture myself, so there is nothing to reference. Sorry.

01Ryan10 wrote in post #18417594
My apologies for the delay. I camped in the Sierras and got back yesterday. Here is my feedback.

The image is of the Milky Way with "Skull Rock" in the foreground at Joshua Tree National Park.


FFFCFF: I don't mind the purple-ish sky. It is a style i'm indifferent to. There is some heavy "halo-ing" around the edges of the skull on "Skull Rock". There is also some odd orange on top of the skull. I do prefer the 2nd image, but there is still too much halo-ing for my taste around the skull.


Mozes: Nice balance of light. The sky is a bit too hazy for me, and perhaps the skull is a little too bright, but overall good.


Benitoite: I like the blacker and darker look to the sky. The Milky Way looks almost as it does with the naked eye, so you've not over processed it. With that said, I do like to see a little more colors and brightness of the MW. The skull is really in my face and seems a little more contrasty than what I would have done with it. Overall I like it.


Pebal: I like the processing of both the sky, MW, and skull. The only real issue I see is the slight halo-ing around the skull. Overall good edit.


Bianchi: I know you've got that paint style and a lot of images I like it. I feel the MW was kind of painted if that makes sense. It does not appear to be sharp anymore. I like everything else you did, but that MW though.


CFdesigns: I'm not sure what happened to the sky, but it looks noticeably blurry. If that was intentional, I'm not digging it. If it was sharp, you'd have been my pick.


My choice for winner is Pebal!


I have not yet had a chance to edit the picture myself, so there is nothing to reference. Sorry.

Thank You for the explanation. Agree with You. Congratulations for the winner. Grate job.