Glen Affric Shot for PP Practice (Page 2): Thanks for giving us this opportunity to see what we can make of your photograph. This was a hard one for me to get my head around :sm19: I...

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Glen Affric Shot for PP Practice

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Feb 3, 2019 11:39:51 #

Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas

Thanks for giving us this opportunity to see what we can make of your photograph. This was a hard one for me to get my head around

I was trying to figure out what you might like out of it since your intent was a HDR from the get go. Should it look like HDR or did you shot HDR to get the brights and darks balanced? I did 3 different versions and finally decided the most natural one was working best and the most believable. Looked to me like the sun is setting, indicated by the long shadows, so I decided to try and keep the foreground from opening up. In other words keeping the grass full and having shadows.

(Download)

Feb 3, 2019 12:19:20 #

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Jim-Pops wrote:

Thanks for giving us this opportunity to see what ... (show quote)

Thanks for joining in, Jim-Pops. My purpose for doing HDR (exposure bracketing) is to avoid blown highlights and to give me relatively noise-free and data-rich files that can take a lot of PP pushing and pulling. As I remember it, it was late afternoon in the winter, so it was the equivalent of an evening shot. Your editing is both appropriate and effective.

Feb 3, 2019 12:24:51 #

Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas

Thanks RG
Jim

Feb 3, 2019 13:12:05 #

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

R.G. wrote:

Thanks for joining in, Les. I don't think the merge tool applies any processing apart from the merge, ...

If I understand correctly, you exposure bracketed your images and then merged them using some sort of HDR processing. If that is the case, a weakness of all HDR processing is the potential for light halos. Luminosity mask blending is more time intensive but avoids that issue.

Feb 3, 2019 13:23:59 #

SoHillGuy Loc: Washington

Opened the tiff in PS CS5 Raw and made some slider adjustments.
Made an adjustment Using Viveza within the Nik Collection.
Using a selection of the mountain I made a Hue adjustment to lighten the bluish color.
Added a Perfect Effect’s Sun Glow preset.

I was tempted to lighten the backlighted trees but resisted.
The sun rays on the tree stand out more when viewing the download.

(Download)

Feb 3, 2019 13:30:40 #

R.G. Loc: Scotland

lesdmd wrote:

....If I understand correctly, you exposure bracketed your images and then merged them using some sort of HDR processing. If that is the case, a weakness of all HDR processing is the potential for light halos. Luminosity mask blending is more time intensive but avoids that issue.

You're probably right. I assumed that the merge tool in Lr just merged the shots, but the results are prone to diffuse haloing. I was blaming in-camera processing (even raw files get some).

Feb 3, 2019 13:37:01 #

rborud Loc: Minnesota

Hello R.G. Here is my go at you image. I went at it with my usual look of the Hudson Valley school of painters. Not copying them but only going in their direction. I hope I do justice to your wonderful image.

One thing I might add is, I cannot see how you could lose it, it is too good. Thanks for looking. RBorud

(Download)

Feb 3, 2019 13:39:34 #

R.G. Loc: Scotland

SoHillGuy wrote:

....I was tempted to lighten the backlighted trees but resisted....

Thanks for contributing, Gaylord. The colouring creates a whole new mood. And you're right about the trees. Lightening them would have taken away from the back-lit look.

Feb 3, 2019 13:43:30 #

R.G. Loc: Scotland

rborud wrote:

...I went at it with my usual look of the Hudson Valley school of painters. Not copying them but only going in their direction. I hope I do justice to your wonderful image. I cannot see how you could lose it, it is too good. RBorud

Thanks, RB, and thanks for joining in. I didn't realise there was a Hudson Valley look, and I thought it was just photographers that liked that area. Whatever the reason, the autumn colours have come out looking very nice indeed.

Feb 3, 2019 14:58:18 #

rfcoakley Loc: Auburn, NH

I took a cut at this. The most significant change was the first edit step. For that, I did a little manipulation of the image via transpose and content aware scale to get to a full 16x9 landscape size with the sunbeam at upper left rule-of-thirds position. From there, I used camera raw filter for basic corrections. I also was looking for more color and ended up adding a "flat and green" preset as part of the camera raw processing. Next, I used Topaz Adjust with a "photo pop" preset and Topaz Detail with a "Cloud Detail" preset. I finished with NIK Color EFEX Pro Polarizer filter effect (sky only) and just a touch of added lens flare over the sun.

(Download)

Feb 3, 2019 15:06:12 #

R.G. Loc: Scotland

rfcoakley wrote:

I took a cut at this. The most significant change ... (show quote)

Thanks for contributing, rfc, and thanks for the explanation of your steps. I was wondering what the wider view would look like. Come to think of it I was wondering what a brighter look would be like as well. Now I know

Feb 3, 2019 17:14:35 #

Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY

Here is my attempt at editing your image RG. I did a few basic edits in Lightroom, then moved it to Luminar 2018. I used a number of filters in Luminar including the AI Enhance, AI Sky Enhance, Micro Contrast, Image Radiance and a few other filters.

Best to view the download.

(Download)

Feb 4, 2019 00:34:46 #

PAToGraphy Loc: Portland ME area

R.G here is my attempt - first some adjustments in Lightroom and then into On1 for effects, dodging and various filters and a light leal. Wanted to bring out the morning gold on the trees and grass. Back into lightroom for exposure tweaks before exporting. Details are in the download.