Glen Affric Shot for PP Practice: There was a time when the regulars in the PP section used to put shots up for editing on a fairly regular basis. It was a great way to learn and...

R.G. Loc: Scotland

There was a time when the regulars in the PP section used to put shots up for editing on a fairly regular basis. It was a great way to learn and sometimes it actually produced something worth keeping

. It would be nice to see a return to those days.

Anyway, here's a shot taken in Glen Affric. I found it during a recent trawl through my dusty archives. Apart from merging the three bracketed shots to produce the file that you see I have not got round to trying to do something with it. The exposures and the merging tool have produced an image that's brighter than it should be, but as I'm sure you already know, that's better than starting with an image that needs lightening, and despite the brightness, it's just below the point where the highlights are blown. And being a merge it should be data-rich and take a fair bit of pushing and pulling. See if you can come up with something that'll inspire me when I come to having a proper go at editing it.

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TIFF.

(Download)

JPEG.
JPEG....

(Download)

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I think there were 3 pp challenges in October by different folks, but thank you for volunteering to bring back the tradition on a regular schedule, R.G. 👏

Not sure if this will inspire you (we kinda have different interests, lol). But I had fun, so thank you!

I added several woodland creatures to my glowing, sunlit scene (evened out the exposure in PS Elements' version of ACR, did tiny bit of cloning onto whitest clouds, then Nik Color Efex filters: grad ND, pro contrast, sunlight, and 2 doses of color contrast range, while masking the sky from second application).

(Download)

lesdmd Loc: Middleton Wi via N.Y.C. & Cleveland

I like to keep it simple and realistic. I think the halo around the mountain is the result of HDR Processing? (it could be eliminated with more processing in Photoshop). I took the original and applied several luminosity masks to balance the mid-range, selectively increase saturation, and bring out more detail in the sky. Final step was to use split toning to warm up the highlights and cool down the shadows.
As I think about it in retrospect, I would now apply some "light rays" (using paint brush) to the light coming through the tree. It's your photo with lots of potential. Have fun!

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Linda From Maine wrote:

.....Not sure if this will inspire you (we kinda have different interests, lol). But I had fun, so thank you!....

Yes, critters are welcome

. I don't do them myself, but it's fun to see the possibilities. If that's an American eagle, he's a loooong way from home

.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

lesdmd wrote:

I like to keep it simple and realistic. I think t... (show quote)

Thanks for joining in, Les. I don't think the merge tool applies any processing apart from the merge, but I suspect that SOOC raw files have something in the way of Clarity applied to them in-camera. On the other hand it may just be coincidental due to the shape of the clouds. I usually do my split toning the other way round (for daylight shots), but you've kept the evening light look quite nicely. A very pleasant result

.

PS - Enabling the download option would have allowed us to view a bigger version.

fergmark Loc: norwalk connecticut

I enjoy doing these. Thanks R.G. I saw it earlier today and knew right away I wanted to try a crop placing the tree with sun nearer the edge. I like the mid and foreground so made an effort to emphasize

(Download)

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

fergmark wrote:

I enjoy doing these. Thanks R.G. I saw it earlier today and knew right away I wanted to try a crop placing the tree with sun nearer the edge. I like the mid and foreground so made an effort to emphasize

A very cool composition choice!

fergmark Loc: norwalk connecticut

Linda From Maine wrote:

A very cool composition choice!

Why, thank you Linda!

R.G. Loc: Scotland

fergmark wrote:

I enjoy doing these. Thanks R.G. I saw it earlier today and knew right away I wanted to try a crop placing the tree with sun nearer the edge. I like the mid and foreground so made an effort to emphasize

You're welcome, fergmark, and thanks for contributing. I like the emphasis given to that dark green conifer in the centre. I hadn't noticed it before. And I like the tighter crop.

melueth Loc: Central Florida

R.G. wrote:

There was a time when the regulars in the PP secti... (show quote)

Ok, here's my go at it. I really loved the texture in this shot, and for me, the sky has some neat drama to it. After a crop and some basic tweaks in LR, i used NIK Silver Efex, adjusted both structure and contrast among other sliders, added a coffee tone, and burnt the edges some.

Marylea

(Download)

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

R.G. wrote:

There was a time when the regulars in the PP secti... (show quote)

Nice image! Fun to work with. Thanks for the opportunity.

(Download)

R.G. Loc: Scotland

melueth wrote:

Ok, here's my go at it. I really loved the texture in this shot, and for me, the sky has some neat drama to it. After a crop and some basic tweaks in LR, i used NIK Silver Efex, adjusted both structure and contrast among other sliders, added a coffee tone, and burnt the edges some.

Marylea

Wow - drama! I didn't see that coming

. Well conceived and well executed, Marylea.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

brucewells wrote:

Nice image! Fun to work with. Thanks for the opportunity.

Glad you enjoyed, Bruce. And thanks for a beautiful and well balanced edit.

melueth Loc: Central Florida

R.G. wrote:

Wow - drama! I didn't see that coming

. Well conceived and well executed, Marylea.

Well thank you, R.G.!

ML

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

R.G. wrote:

Glad you enjoyed, Bruce. And thanks for a beautiful and well balanced edit.

Thanks for the kind words, R.G.