Aww, thanks you guys, I'm very touched. And I mean that.
They were both RAW converted to DNG. No selective color stuff - haven't figured that out yet. For the Lifesaver building, I first used Color Efex Pro Contrast, and then I used the Graduated Neutral Density - just a little...of each. I might not have needed to do the Pro Contrast, but I like that one... Then I went into Silver Efex Pro and used the split tone option 3, and played around with some sliders to get it to where I liked it...kind of that old fashioned weird film look...maybe when the film/print starts to "turn", if you know what I mean... Then into LR for a little touch here and there...but not much. I'm glad you feel it is a successful picture. I hope that I can remember what I did and try it again with another picture at some point.
That backyard - wish it were mine, but it's not... It's a large open space that belongs to an old beautiful apartment building...tudor style...and I have always been drawn to this scene in every season. I've tried it several times in the last year and a half. I used Color Efex... I'm finding that these image files (I really, really want to call them negatives!) are so different from my LX5's that it is taking me a while to learn what I don't need to do, if you follow me. It's been too long since I've had the Leica X1 for me to say if they are similar. I don't think they are. These RAW files come in with a lot going for them already, at least in my view.