Before & After #343

This game is to help those of us who are trying to learn new editing tricks.

Here's the breakdown of the game. I will post a picture, re-sized to exactly 1000 pixels maximum on the long side. Outside of being re-sized it has to be unedited...meaning no adjustments to any levels, it has to look like it did as it came out of the camera.

The game will last 4 Days (96 hrs) and whoever can produce the best edited image (as judged by me) will be picked and it'll be their turn to post their unedited picture for all of us to take a crack at.

The participants must have their "Image Editing OK" turned on and they must provide at least a simple breakdown of how they edited the image, some entrants are a little vague on this point, please give us all details so we can learn and share tips. For instance if you use the unsharp mask tool or Smart Sharpen, provide us with the adjustments you used so others can try them out.

You can post multiple images, but the first image you post will be the one that is judged - all other images will be considered for knowledge and tip use only.

Also, please keep all comments, be they positive or negative, to yourself until after the game has ended.

If you happen to be the winner of the game please start the next one with the title of the game and the following number. For example…the next game should read "Before & After #343.

This game ends February 16th at 11 am, Pacific Time (UTC-08:00)

Here's a link to a larger file: http://www.pierpont.co​m/Large.jpg

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

USM, crop, sharpen, shadow/highlight, exposure, levels, color, contrast, curves, burn tool, smart sharpen, lighting effects 2'oclock omni, resize

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

Crop, duped BG, levels adjustment, imported sign from ell brown on Flickr (thanks) (http://www.flickr.com …s/ell-r-brown/4679528965/)

Re-sized sign and added fence post, LAB colour boost, smart sharpen and stroke

Rotation, sharpen a lot, change of colors, played with levels...

I'll play!

Here is what I did.

1. USharp Mask
   
   • Amount = 125%
     
   • Radius = 2.0 Pixels
     
   • Threshold 0
     
   
   
2. Hue Saturations
   
   • Master +15
     
   • Green +15
     
   • Red -31
     
   • Yellow +8
     
   
   
3. Adjust Lighting Levels
   
   • Input Levels = 10, 1.0, 229
     
   
   
4. Adjust Shadows/Highlights
   
   • Lighten Shadows = 3%
     
   • Darken Highlights = 15%
     
   • Midtone Contrast = +5%
     
   
   
5. I was thinking of cropping the image, but after examining it, I liked how it was framed as is. I like how the overhead branches and trees on the right help highlight the dog. I was left wondering what was hidden up the hill behind the branches that has the dog's attention. And what else may be waiting along the trail as it disappears behind the trees.
   

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

Curves adjustment
color adjusted blue to -75
added black border and merged
USM (radius 5, amount .25, threshold 2)

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/21905076@N04/5​446466533/

Adjusted WB, exposure, clarity, blacks, vibrance in ACR.
Shadow/highlight
Boost color in lab
radial blur

this is my result

basically just using Lightroom to do some adjustment & cropping
trying this preset called PH Hardrocker (free preset)

Added some brown to the image to try to even out the scene with the dog's color

added a dark edge to the image and lightened the center to kinda spotlight the dog

sharpened the doge a little and added a little shadow to the dog

First off, let me apologize for my missed focus.

surgeonhawkeye, I liked your out-of-the-box thinking on the crop and rotation, but I would have liked a bit less rotation. Good work capitalizing on my missed focus by making the focused branch more prominent.

Same with silo's radial blur. Just a hair less and I would have really liked the unique effect. Also, it might have been interesting to have the blur centered on whatever Tucker was looking at. Good job on the colors and sharpening.

Nigel, funny, except so close to the truth that it has me worrying that I'm about to get a citation for leash law violation. I liked your crop and colors but Tucker could have been sharpened a bit more.

Acman, I like the "illustration" look of that Hardrocker preset. Would have liked the foreground leaves to be a little more unreal to complete the semi-fantasy setting. Nice colors.

jb2u, mostly good colors and good job sharpening Tucker, but the leaves look a little "too" sharp for my taste. Maybe the grass is lightened too far, maybe a little too yellow.

ChopperAl, good accurate colors but the consistent sharpening makes Tucker look even more out of focus when compared to the ultra-sharp leaves.

Lore's and Palladium's colors and sharpening feel the most authentic to the original scene and both have good sharpening that makes Tucker the focal point. I like both crops, Palladium's right side more and Lore's left side more but Palladium gets the edge with the smoother feel and vignetting - again feels more like this very-low-light winter day actually was. (But, last entry also has the advantage of seeing the other edits.)

So, this one goes to Palladium. I've heard that it's a big mistake to design by committee, but in this case there are aspects of each edit that could be nicely combined. Thanks for letting me see my image through so many different eyes.

Personally, I like seeing the OP's personal edit, so I'll try to find mine (from November) and include it below. Not as part of the contest, but just to give an indication of my personal preferences and how they might affect my judgment.

Edit: Funny, Nigel and I picked out almost the same crop - no wonder I liked his. Okay, Palladium, you're up.

congrats palladium

Well done Palladium - good job everyone else. Thanks for posing Tucker....

Well done Palladium

Thanks everyone - Look for #344 here

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1001575

Congrats Palladium!!!