md91, please repost as you did not click the 'store original' box. Oops! Cicking on the box allows us to see your work full-size in all its glory.

Roadking, thanks for posting your image. However, I need to ask you to post again and this time click the 'store original' box. That will enable us to click 'Download' and view your image full size. Thanks for your help.

Error

That is a good effort, Lloyd. However, you still got a noise problem, and the image could be sharper. Check many of the comments above regarding noise. You get four thumbs for this almost there.

That is clean, bright, sharp, and beautiful. You get five thumbs, Jim.

That's a different approach, Bob. The sky and mountains are fine. It has a certain charm with the unusual sky color and water reflection. However, on this one you over-cooked the brightness in the foreground. There is also noise remaining in the image. You reduced the noise but failed to eliminate it. The noise is most obvious on the buildings next to the boats and water. Load your image into your photo editor. Zoom into the buildings. Find the Denoise Filter and move the slider all the way up. Your image will go very soft. Pull the slider back until the noise just begins to appear. Now adjust the numbers until the noise disappears. Go to your Clarity filter (if you have one.) and add clarity by the default numbers. Now Sharpen to make the image pin sharp.
Good practice for you. You get four thumbs.

Revet that is close, but you forgot to remove all the noise. (Click on your download and click again on the new image.) The noise is most obvious on the buildings next to the boats and water. Load your image into your photo editor. Zoom into the buildings. Find the Denoise Filter and move the slider all the way up. Your image will go very soft. Pull the slider back until the noise just begins to appear. Now adjust the numbers until the noise disappears. Go to your Clarity filter (if you have one.) and add clarity by the default numbers. Now Sharpen to make the image pin sharp.
You'll realise the image should have been a tad brighter. A good effort, you get four thumbs:

Racmanaz, that looks good. I zoomed to 100% and looked and looked again. I'll be darned, at some point you added a paintbrush effect. I never placed any restrictions on the technique so I'll let it go. It would be unlikely to slip by a photo editor for publication but a clever approach. Not obviously painterly until blown up to reveal the brush strokes. You get five thumbs for technique this time.

Yep, it was a few minutes after dawn, Jim. Not entirely deserted, on the road is a lady and her son on bicycles. She is on her way to open the bakery.You'll need to zoom in to see them.

You got rid of that nasty noise, and made a fine job of changing the sky. However, not as bright as I had hoped, Jim. If you have an Exposure Adjustment in your software try +2.5 and it should brighten up nicely. I tried +3 for fun but that blew out the highlights. It all looks good, but not as bright as it should have been. You get four thumbs this time.

Here's Ulden in between the fjords and mountains of Norway.

Your challenge is to:

1. Brighten the land: The meadows, mountains, and trees contain many shades of green. The rocks are not gray or green!

2. The houses are of many colors, they need to need bright and colorful.

3. Noise is a problem on the buildings close to the water. It may appear as color noise on your screen. Eliminate all noise in your image.

4. Replace the sky. The present sky is not good on the left. You could change it to gray but that is not acceptable. Replacing the sky is a requirement.

5. Sharpen as required. Zoom to 100% to check your work.

Work images .jpg or RAW as preferred.

Context: To sell Norway as a travel destination.

Jpg Work File

(Download)

RAW File
Attached file:
(Download)

Your comment reads as if you are going to the Azores in May. April and May are an excellent time for flowers. May is the time for the largest religious festival of the year in Sao Miguel, which is held in Ponta Delgada. The streets decorated with flowers; plus residents will decorate their homes to celebrate the festival. It is a wonderful time for photographers to be in Ponta Delgada. Whale watching popular during April and May; dolphins and sperm whales can usually be seen anytime. Boat trips available to get close. Google Images has plenty of photographs of the Azores to whet your enthusiasm. Have fun. Always carry a plastic raincoat or poncho (something lightweight you can fold away real small) as rain is possible at any time.

A different slant, Jerry. Tight crop. Clear focal point. Red cars. However, the engine is too dark, the shade of green overwhelms everything with not enough detail the trees and bushes. The black areas in the green should also have detail. The yellow grass areas are too strong to be realistic. An interesting interpretation gets you four thumbs.

If you have a branch of Barnes and Noble near you they stock a whole bunch of English language photo magazines. Most are from the UK, well written, with old and new tips on photography, as well as long articles. Some of the magazines are aimed at one make of camera, others wider ranging on digital photography in general. I enjoy reading two in particular and have a regular order: Digital Photographer, and Photo Professional. My grand-daughter devours them after me. LOL! I have been told you can get many photo magazines shipped direct to you from the UK and it is less costly. I guess you can Google 'photo magazines UK' for details.

A very good effort, artar. A bright image. The cars are red. The grass and trees are varied greens. However, you lost detail in the the grass and trees. A number of filters would have taken care of this: clarity, detail, sharpen would all have worked in your favor. A good effort worth 5 thumbs.

Yep, #1 outstanding, Snap Shot.