R.G. Loc: Scotland

I'm probably not the only person that's re-edited old shots because of lockdown. When I did the first edit, one of my priorities was to avoid an over-cooked look. I haven't changed in that respect but I've become much more willing to push my editing, probably because I'm more confident in my ability to decide when too much is too much. Apart from that, some scenes definitely benefit from being ramped up a bit, even if it means a slight exaggeration of reality. I suppose the knack is to know where the line between exaggerated and unrealistic is.
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New edit.

(Download)

Old edit.

(Download)

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Great job in new edit. Lovely image. Perfect balance of cooking.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Thank you Stan. It can be quite hard for the person doing the editing to get that balance right.

nanaval Loc: Cornwall

The new edit look much better to me..

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Your new edit is nice!

I agree that it’s easy to go too far when pushing a photo through processing.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Thank you for your opinion Val.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Thank you John. Yes, easy to go too far - but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try .

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

Beautiful image R.G. - love the 2nd edit!

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Oh, I agree!

Ourspolair

I think that you hit a great balance in the re-edit. Hope that you enjoy the holidays and keep on sharing.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

I think your re-edit looks quite nice, also. But I have to pose a question. Are we so bombarded with over-processed, over-saturated images by now that our original images that were true-to-life no longer look good to us? I do not think your re-edit looks over-processed.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Thank you Bill.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Thanks for your comment, Ourspolair.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I know what you mean about re-editing with a fresh eye. I loaded about seven year's of old images into LR, now about 2 years ago. I find most of the work, whenever I open a subject / date for re-edit, is to aggressively cull what should have been deleted years ago. I also shudder many times at a 'saturation phase' I went through in the early 2010s.

Great work here! I like both, preferring the newer edit.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

I've wondered if what you say has been interfering with my perceptions. It's almost impossible to judge objectively because our judgements are based on our perceptions. Another factor at work may be over-saturated TV screens and monitors. My last few TVs and monitors have all come with high levels of saturation and contrast which I had to adjust to give a more natural look. If you get used to looking at ramped-up screens it will definitely affect your perceptions.

On the other hand I would say it's possible to attach too much importance to the reality of the moment of capture. Taking sunsets as an example, some sunsets are pastel in their softness while others are outstandingly vivid, and there's a whole spectrum of possibilities in between. If the sunset that you captured was an uninspiring in-between version but you wanted something more extreme, why shouldn't you use PP to push your capture in the desired direction? We all know what vivid sunsets can be like and we also know what pastel soft sunsets can be like, so we all have a fair idea of what "realistic" can mean.

There's no rule forbidding us to represent anything other than the actual captured reality as shot, and we all have our own judgement to go by to keep our edits within the bounds of what "realistic" can mean. Have you ever looked at a sky and thought "If I shot that and then showed the SOOC version, people would criticise it for being overcooked"?