Darkroom Challenge Digital Darkroom Derby #30 - Winner announced

[BosseBe]

Welcome to challenge number 30 in the Digital Darkroom Derby.

Rules are here, please read them.

This is an old picture, it is from 2015, taken when visiting with my distant relative in New Jersey, who kindly showed me around a bit.
I might have used this image for the Post Processing Challenge over at µ-43 forum, but hope you all can enjoy the challenge anyway!

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The files (JPG and Raw) can be found here.

This contest will end on Saturday evening 18:00 CET 2022-04-09.
Yes I know it is not a full 72 hours but that gives me time to do the judging on Saturday night.

 

[RobD]

#1. Aurora, ACR & Photoshop

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[RobD]

#2. Adjusted white balance

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[DeeJayK]

Crop to 16x9 apply linear gradient filter on sky, clean up some errants birds/planes/dust in sky and apply global adjustments in LR; import to PS to apply tilt/shift blur to de-emphasize foreground foliage, trim some of the tallest bits of trees in the left of the frame that evaded the blur filter.

- K

 

[kae1]

Entry #1 DXO PL5 then Elements and DeNoise

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[kae1]

Entry #2 Topaz B&W Effects

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[Zeus1]

Can somebody please cut down the bush in the lower left corner? Oh, and make some wind to blow away the air pollution above this city?

Heavy cropping, tons of "clarity"and some "dehazing" applied selectively to the buildings.

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[BosseBe]

Well if anyone of you can point out what buildings we see it would be cool!
I think I have identified the Empire State Building.

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

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Raw file through DxO for contrast, color correction, exposure adjustment. Exported image to 16-bits/ch TIFF and continued in Gimp. Replaced sky, enhanced local contrast, made color tweaks, scaled, cropped and sharpened.

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

Entry 2, B&W of above using Silver Efex Pro

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[DeeJayK]

Well if anyone of you can point out what buildings we see it would be cool!
I think I have identified the Empire State Building.

I'm far from an expert in the NYC skyline, having only visited the city on a couple of occasions. But that group to the right is the financial district, with the tallest structure being One World Trade (a.k.a. the Freedom Tower).

The group to the left would be Midtown, with the tallest structure there being the Empire State Building.

Beyond that, I would commend you to the Manhattan Skyline Explorer or to Google Maps.

- K

 

[BosseBe]

Sorry, I am a little late in closing this contest, but my excuse is that no one posted today!
Something was nagging my mind, there was something I needed to do on Saturday night!
So the Derby is now closed and I will attempt to find a winner etc.

 

[BosseBe]

Not so many entries in this so that makes my work easier.
I generally liked the ones that got rid of the haze over the buildings.

So here is the verdict from the Swedish jury:

2nd runner up: @Zeus1 for the panoramic crop, I did like the ones that kept the foreground and the sky more.
1st runner up: @RobD #2, Good job, but in my mind the colors of the trees in the foreground are a bit to much.
Winner: @WhidbeyLVR, both your pictures got the highest points from the Swedish jury, me, but I really liked the B&W treatment best!

So over to you @WhidbeyLVR!

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

Not so many entries in this so that makes my work easier.
I generally liked the ones that got rid of the haze over the buildings.

So here is the verdict from the Swedish jury:

2nd runner up: @Zeus1 for the panoramic crop, I did like the ones that kept the foreground and the sky more.
1st runner up: @RobD #2, Good job, but in my mind the colors of the trees in the foreground are a bit to much.
Winner: @WhidbeyLVR, both your pictures got the highest points from the Swedish jury, me, but I really liked the B&W treatment best!

So over to you @WhidbeyLVR!

Thank you, Bo! It was a good challenge. I wish we had a few more participants, but I will carry on.

The new challenge is here: Challenge! - Digital Darkroom Derby #31