Darkroom Challenge Digital Darkroom Derby #147 (closed, results posted)

WhidbeyLVR

WhidbeyLVR

All-Pro
Supporter
Location
Whidbey Island
Name
Lyle
Start Date
Sep 5, 2023
End Date
Sep 9, 2023
This is Digital Darkroom Derby #145, a digital image editing/processing challenge.

These challenges are open to everyone. If you have any interest in practicing or improving your image editing and post-processing skills, please feel free to join in!

Please read the rules here. Short version: Host provides the challenge image and selects the winner, who then becomes the next host.

DDD147-web.jpg
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)


Nooksack Falls. Handheld high-contrast scene. See if you can make it shine.

I was slowing the shutter down without any ND filter available, so aperture was pegged at f/22. That shouldn't matter very much when you scale it down for posting.


The RAW and JPG files are here.

The challenge will close at 12:00 (noon) Pacific Daylight Time on Saturday, September 9th. Enjoy!
 
Last edited:
Entry #1:

First ran through DxO PureRAW 3 mainly for lens corrections, before importing the resulting DNG file into Capture One Pro 23.

Warmed up the white balance a bit and wound back the sharpness to about half the default. Then fiddled around with Exposure, Highlight recovery and Shadow recovery until I was happy.

DDD147-ORF.jpg
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
 
Beautiful shot. Not much to do. Edited raw file in DxO PL5: lens correction, some noise reduction, mild (-2) lens sharpening (based on perhaps faulty understanding that it uses lens properties to unblur image), then tweaked and resized then sharpened (USM, except for the waterfalls) in Elements as the last step, as I learned from Lyle's comment in a previous Challenge.

DDD147_DxOidLL4.jpg
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
 
Last edited:
gecko said:
Beautiful shot. Not much to do. Edited raw file in DxO PL5: lens correction, some noise reduction, mild-2 lens sharpening (based on perhaps faulty understanding that it uses lens properties to unblur image), then tweaked and resized then sharpened (USM, except for the waterfalls) in Elements as the last step, as I learned from Lyle's comment in a previous Challenge.

View attachment 410788
Click to expand...
I didn’t mean to make a huge general point with my previous comment on sharpening before scaling. I like sharp images as much as the next guy, but when I see moire patterns in an image, it “hurts my eye”. I will then reprocess to avoid the issue, but often, only in the affected areas. I am happy to mask the full res image and apply a small-radius Gaussian blur to those areas, then scale and sharpen as usual.
 
Entry #2:

My first attempt at using Affinity Photo 2. Fiddled around with just about everything in the "Develop Persona" - Exposure, Brightness, Contrast, Clarity, White Balance, Shadows and Highlights. I can see that I still have a lot to learn, but I think that I am going to play around further with this tool. It does have potential.


DDD147.jpg
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
 
WhidbeyLVR said:
I didn’t mean to make a huge general point with my previous comment on sharpening before scaling. I like sharp images as much as the next guy, but when I see moire patterns in an image, it “hurts my eye”. I will then reprocess to avoid the issue, but often, only in the affected areas. I am happy to mask the full res image and apply a small-radius Gaussian blur to those areas, then scale and sharpen as usual.
Click to expand...
In recent months I've shifted away from universal sharpening tools in favour of good old fashioned high pass.

It's so versatile. Workflow is to duplicate the base layer, apply high pass filter to taste (amount depends on the dimensions of the image), set blend mode to soft light or linear light, hit option+mask and paint the sharpening in on the mask with a white brush.

Options are then multiple layers with differing amounts of high pass, one layer with differing densities of white on the mask, multiple layers with different blend modes and different masks.

On an insect macro, linear light is a good blend mode for drawing attention to hairs, but soft light is better for compound eyes, the former making them look un-naturally 'busy'.

[edit] for the non-native speakers, 'busy'=heavily detailed. 'Nothing like a busy carpet for hiding the dirt' [/edit].
 
Last edited:
Many thanks to all of you for your participation! Very nice results, too!

It seemed to me that the big choice here was whether to lean into the high-contrast and deep shadows, or to try and lift the shadows to expose the detail in the cliff. Overall, I liked a compromise between contrast and detail, but both approaches were taken, and with good results:

3rd place (tie): @griffljg #1 and @kae1 . Ken's entry was a bit on the lighter side, but made nice job of cloning out the stone in the lower right. Larry's was nice balance, but a bit too reddish. (Larry's #2, through Affinity Photo, had badly blown highlights, but was otherwise pretty nice.)

2nd place (and close): @RichardC #2. Beautiful high-contrast submission, with wonderful extra blur on the water.

Winner: @BosseBe , color version. The B&W was nice, too! This hit a good balance for me for light and shadow.

My take:

P8150075-web.jpg
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)


I spent some effort on recovering some detail in the highlights. I expected them to be hopeless, but was surprised at how much could be reclaimed.

Over to you, Bo!
 

Similar threads

WhidbeyLVR
    • Like
    • Appreciate
Darkroom Challenge Digital Darkroom Derby #145 (closed, results posted)
2
Replies
20
Views
630
RichardC
RichardC
Stiga
    • Like
Darkroom Challenge Digital Darkroom Derby #144 - CLOSED + results
2
Replies
25
Views
736
RobD
RobD
griffljg
    • Like
Darkroom Challenge Digital Darkroom Challenge #142 -- CLOSED - Results Posted
Replies
12
Views
427
kae1
kae1
Back
Top