Editing Challenge

[Bikie John]

OK, second attempt having re-sized properly....

This is fairly straight, just with some adjustments in Lightroom:



I quite like the composition as it is so I left the wall and gravestones in, just a slight crop and straighten. Darkened top and bottom, reduced exposure overall and did a bit of tweaking of black/white/highlight/shadow until I thought it looked nice.

John

[Bikie John]

Then I thought it looked a bit cheerful and might benefit from a darker treatment:



Really easy Photoshop tweak - just add a Black & White adjustment layer and set blend mode to Multiply, then adjust opacity etc. to suit. Doing this on the "happy" version made it too dark so I increased exposure a bit in LR before opening in PS.

John

[MJ224]

Such a range of good and interesting solutions.

I was trying but have failed to darken the picture, and make a high light on the castle, as to make a sun rise on it.

But in Lightroom, I use the Adjustment brush to highlight the castle ramparts, so far all I get is a red tinge, but seem not to be able to change this to yellow. Anyone know how to crack this in Lightroom???

_TGB0042 (2) (Medium) by Mark Johnson, on Flickr

NOT A SUBMISSION BUT WORK IN PROGRESS

[MJ224]

Got this to work before reading your advice....

Will have another go...

Many thanks for your help...

NOT A SUBMISSION BUT WORK IN PROGRESS

[MJ224]

Next version.. Learnt how to use the Radial brush...



Dawn at the castle.................

[wornish]

Another Try.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IainMacD]

Here are 2 edits, both the same crop, this one processed in Lightroom:


And this one in Silver Efex:

[Graham_of_Rainham]

That is it for entries:

I've removed all the existing "LIKES" and comment posts to clean up the thread for "Voting"

Please add a "Like" for up to THREE edits (No "Selfies")

The person who made the edit to the most liked version will have the opportunity to provide the next RAW file for people to work with.

Please feel free to comment on the edits that have been made in particular how you think that edit improved the image.

Hopefully the editors of the most "Liked" images will share their thoughts and techniques.

[OM USer]

This is a challenge and not an out and out competition which is why we get 3 "likes" to choose on the basis of idea and technique and not just final result. I have therefore posted my comments as well as just clicked the like button.

The biggest problem I saw in the straight raw conversion is that the castle is a bit wooly and lacking definition. I saw this as the main thing that needed correcting. In addition, tilting it a bit anti-clockwise so it was nice and vertical strengthened its lines. The edits that did not address this were, in my opinion, lacking a focus point. Indeed one comment that was made was as to whether this was a photo of a castle or a graveyard but I saw that fact neither of them stood out against the hill and trees as the real issue so it was 3 things competing for your attention with no link between them other than a grey lack of contrast.

Tom's brightly coloured edit was a bold move to address the greyness of the original image but for me failed to create any sort of mood. An imaginative treatment of the sky.

Mik's rarther dark them was well done but additional attention to the castle would, I think, have improved it.

Mark's nicely lit composition would have had a like from me if there weren't competing entries. Both castle and graveyard are clearly defined which I liked.

Peter's (Art Frames) dramatic crop puts the castle firmly in the frame and with good definition got it a vote from me.

Dave's (Wornish) dark them was just too much for me. Sorry.

Michael's (Technician) attempt at a mono conversion was good in its execution but the B&W didn't add anything for me.

I did like Graham's snowy converion but alas I had no likes left for it.

OM - emboldened by Graham's attempt I also tried to add some elements to the scene to try and give it a different feel. Make of it what you will.

Andy's (Shenstone) in my mind brings out one of the best in making a natural looking photo from the RAW file but had some stiff competition with this theme. Alas I had run out of likes but I might have to revisit this decision

OM - The oil/pastel effect is not something I have tried before but does give the scene a different look. Please let me know your comments.

Rob's (Greenguru) interpretation with the reflection was nice but the castle's lack of definition let it down.

Gingram's mono interpretation nicely defined the castle but it was not enough for me to give this squarish crop a like.

Paul's take had. I think, a feel of early morning sunrise as it was not quite the golden hue you often get at sunset.

Cliff's blue attempt was different and a nice idea but did not, I feel, fulfil its potential.

OM - my third attempt; this time to give it a more natural feel than my other entries. I think that others succeeded in this where I failed.

Bikie John has come up with a very natural looking scene. A great entry.

Bikie John's darker them has got more out of the castle but the whole looks bit cold and uninviting and give the impression of somewhere you don't want to stop.

Mark tried 3 attempts to highlight the castle. His third one succeeded and was very nicely done so it got my like.

Dave (Wornish) gave us another interpretation and I like the yellow stonework.

Iain gave us 2 in one post and the first one was so natural looking, with good definition across the whole picture, and a nice colour to the grass that it got my third like. The crop was also a good choice.

[Graham_of_Rainham]

With SIX votes the clear favourite is :

Originally Posted by art frames

A number of processes and programmes (lightroom, photoshop). Not a fan of gravestones and the walls and composition blocked the subject for me.

[MJ224]

Well done Peter, 'twas a good render...............

[art frames]

Thank you to everyone who voted for my fairly safe and direct approach to the challenge. I hope those that chose to be creative and dramatic will be winners in subsequent challenges.

Let me give my own views on the entries and why I did what I did.

Firstly, I agree with OM User on his view of the starting image. A good challenge, lots of issues and a nice image in there but quite well hidden.

Tom - I think this helped to make me enter. I had looked at the image and found it to be in need of some work, Tom had sorted out several things but it was so far from natural landscape I thought I'd try for a simple and natural look. Maybe an opposite view.

Mik - The sky and darker tones really worked with this. But I felt the composition (especially that wall at the leading edge) stops your eye from getting into the image. Plus grave stones and dark tones just don't appeal to me and they pull my eye down.

Mark - This sorted out the composition a little and really brought clarity to the subject, But the colours were not as pleasant as they could have been with a feeling of a dull wet day between the showers?

Dave (Wornish) A very different view to mine. Would have been even nicer if it had been cropped harder and the bottom half replaced with more black trees and bushes. The gravestones are too strong. The top of the castle seems to be soft as well. But some good creativity and worth pursuing.

Michael's (Technician) A very nice conversion, with sparkle and definition where it is needed. But I will usually choose colour first on a landscape so I voted elsewhere.

Graham - Clever and witty. But why resist the opportunity to put a snowman in. Or replace all of the gravestones with snowmen.

OM 1 - One for the Goths.

Andy (Shenstone) - My first vote. DXO does a lovely conversion. But I still see two pictures and would want a crop.

OM 2 - My second vote. There are some areas of this which are really lovely. The spongeing in the sky, the trees to the middle right are very nice. Delicate and creative. I can even accept the gravestones (just remove the two big ones for me).

Gingram - A different composition which works. I can see it in a technical or factual context (book, paper etc). Sharp and direct.

Paul - Has the appearance of a print from a slide or a historic postcard, a definite and confident style and look.

Cliff - Bit too extreme for me. Brings out the dramatic but doesn't hold your eye.

OM 3 - Not my favourite of the 3 by OM User

Bikie John - Nice and simple, but I would crop it . of the two I prefer version one, this adds tone but takes away warmth.

Mark - Work still in progress for me. Like the crop, like the ideas but not the execution. Extra light needs to work with the natural light.

Dave (Wornish) - Like the crop but the colours are not working for me.

Iain - My third vote was for the coloured version. natural and a nice crop, removing the wall and the two dominant headstones. I'd go further still....

If I have said something too bluntly then I apologise. Please feel free to tell me off!


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I have re-run my edit and although it isn't exactly the same it is near enough to try and share what I did and why. I made it bigger here but apologise that it is so big!

Step one was to find the crop to establish what image I was looking for. I tried many things but it worked best when I lost the 4:3 format. I also tried to correct the verticals and gently increase the height. Some of that may be in the submission, but I went simple for this rerun.



Step two involved some work in lightroom. These settings are quite strong but the image was soft and washed out so I needed to push more than I would normally do. The cloning was done at an early stage to remove gravestones etc. Plus it needed sharpening to give a sort of focus. Not standard for me.




Step three involved taking the image into photoshop to sort out the colour and sparkle. I still haven't quite managed to achieve the original blue in the sky



Final steps were about dealing with noise using a plug-in and sharpening the tiff after noise reduction.




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I will do my best to provide a picture which gives scope for drama and perhaps also some technical challenges. I'll let Graham know what I have found so far from the archives.

[Jim Ford]

For me, in many of the images the verticals are slightly 'off'. Does anyone else feel the same?

Jim

[art frames]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

For me, in many of the images the verticals are slightly 'off'. Does anyone else feel the same?

Jim

Hi Jim, yes it is a challenging image with many verticals to choose from. I did work at what I could in my submission. Some buildings were clearly at an angle which could be lens or reality and I tried perspective crops and many other warps and stretches. Not sure of what I put in the final version in the end as some changes helped and some didn't.

But as I said above I did less correction in the rerun to just pick out the main stages. Not sure how mine looks to you.

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by art frames

Hi Jim, yes it is a challenging image with many verticals to choose from. I did work at what I could in my submission. Some buildings were clearly at an angle which could be lens or reality and I tried perspective crops and many other warps and stretches. Not sure of what I put in the final version in the end as some changes helped and some didn't.

But as I said above I did less correction in the rerun to just pick out the main stages. Not sure how mine looks to you.

The major verticals on the large portion of the castle look way out to me.

Jim