Oh my goodness – I was not expecting to see so many edits, and as we get closer to B&F # 100, it gets harder & harder to pick a winner!! When I compare all of your edits to the original/untouched image, I am truly amazed at how much improvement can be accomplished in so many ways. All of the edits remind me of how strange a place Stonehenge is, and it is hard to believe that it remained “undiscovered” for thousands of years. … For goodness sake, England is an island. You would think that somebody would have stumbled across it earlier!!! Anyway, you all did such outstanding work I felt an urge to tell you what I saw in all of your versions (it took me quite a while!!):
thekid24 – This one was quite a bit different than many of your past edits. … I’m not sure what the color curves action did, but I like the effect. I would not have thought of emphasizing the blue tones. I like the way you were able to do it without making the overall temperature of the image too cool. While this image is good, I like many of the textures you normally add so well.
TheSonofDarwin – This edit was just plain spectacular. You did an outstanding job with the sky and the stones. The entire image has a very crisp quality to it, and the pano crop is perfect for this image. A tad more yellow than I would have applied, but heck, outstanding all the same.
LuckyStar08 – The high key B/W effect is pretty cool for this image. … Stonehenge is a pretty amazing edifice, and since it is located in the middle of nowhere, it is quite mysterious. In this case, the angels were a bit disconcerting to me, because they gave me the impression of what it might look like if vandals painted images on those massive granite slabs. … But then, I started to think of them as petroglyphs which was interesting.
Christine Mitchell – Holy Cow!!! Did you have a time machine and go back 4,000 years?!?!? I can just imagine a group of druids in the middle an ancient ritual during a full-moon. Your night sky is fantastic, and the darkened image fits your theme well. Your use of light, color and contrast work well!!
dilorenzo1954 – Your high-contrast ultra-desaturated image has an outstandingly “tangible” feel to it. I compared it to a B/W conversion I did to this image a while back, and the hint of color makes a huge difference!! By stripping color from the image, it gives it a “timeless” feeling, which is truly appropriate for something that was erected in 2200 BC. It looks like an image right out of LIFE magazine.
Lee123 – Your edit was spectacular in the same way that Justin’s was, even though you went in another direction. At first glance, I thought you had done some heavy tone mapping, but then I realized that you had replaced the sky and adjusted color balance (and it looks like contrast as well). While the vignette you added is very subtle due to the dark sky and shadows on the ground, it is very effective in drawing your attention to an elongated oval in a well proportioned pano crop for this image. Stonehenge is emphasized just right in this image.
Ocron – Another example of your outstanding editing skills. Your edit has many of the same qualities I found pleasing in Justin’s edit. The sky is adjusted beautifully, and the overall appearance is quite reminiscent of our day-trip to visit Stonehenge. The grass had a bit more color, probably due to the frequent rain England experiences year-round, but your version looks quite good, especially since you accentuated the gray in the gigantic stones. Overall, quite good – in fact, after looking at your image, I can recall how windy it was that day as the clouds ran by overhead, and the incessant breeze swept over the treeless countryside.
BitterSweet – As usual, another good edit from you Tracey. Your version is actually closest to my original edit. You kept the original sky, but improved the color. You also preserved the color of the grass very accurately, and added just the right amount of contrast (without going overboard). You even cropped it similarly to my original version (but I straightened the horizon first).
>>>>>
And with all of that, the winner is Lee123, followed very closely by TheSonofDarwin. Honorable mentions go to dilorenzo1954 the desat/high key was quite good; and Christine Mitchell the druid ceremony under a full moon added to the mystery.
OK, Lee123 you're up for B&F # 85. At this rate, we'll reach # 100 by the end of August!!!
