10 replies to this topic

[Merco_61]

First a message from this week's file submitter, Malice.

This exposure was taken some time ago, when there was still rapeseed grown in that place. Today it's part of the city as a new housing area was erected there. I really liked this "sea of yellow" and therefor I'm interested in seeing you interpretations of this exposure, especially under these somewhat difficult lighting conditions.

 

Dropbox file:

Dropbox - DSC_0080.NEF - Simplify your life

 

And then the rules:

The exercise is weekly, a new thread with a new raw (preferably) or jpg fine file for each week.

The exercise officially runs until midnight between sunday and monday pst (UTC-8). Even after the official deadline, the exercise is still open for new interpretations.

This is a round-robin exercise, the order of submitting the week’s raw file is based on an alphabetical list of applicants’ user names. If the next submitter on the list is unable to post at his/her turn he/she may ask the thread master to be moved down the list no later than friday morning. Late applications will be added at the bottom of the list.

We will revise this when every applicant has had a go, and perhaps change this model.

 

The submitter for the week must make the file along with any specific text for the post available to the thread master during the weekend preceding the challenge week. The thread master will then copy the file to a Dropbox location for the challenge and make the starting post for the week.

 

The exercise is open to all members, not only the file submitters.

 

Images provided, as well as the images resulting from the exercise remain the sole property of the photographer who took them. Those participating in the editing exercise may not use or display the photo outside the exercise thread.

 

It is allowed to make derivative interpretations on other participants’ work (a collaborative approach). If you base your take on someone else’s work, you must indicate what you started from.

 

The owner of the photo comments on the work done, highlighting what he liked best (both the interpretation itself and the technique used to get there) after the original week is over.

 

As this exercise is a tool for learning and inspiration, multiple entries are not only ok, but encouraged if a participant gets a new idea for how to present or interpret the photo, including artistic interpretations.

 

Participants must share how they have achieved their take on the photo.

 

 

Participants are explicitly not limited as to what software is used for the exercise.

 

 

[deano]

Here is my take on this weeks challenge.  In LR, I used the highlight slider to take away the glare in the sun/sky, lightened the shadows, and a mini crop at the left, punched up the clarity a bit, enhanced the yellow in the flowers.

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[Bart]

Great image, Malice.

Perspective enhanced by the lines of yellow flowering, symmetry on the one hand and light - dark division between the two sides on the other hand.

The two yellow lines forming a connection between the two sides.

I see some great symbolism here connecting to the path of life running between the two sides into the distance.

I tried to keep this tension in the image.

 

I used DxO Optics with the camera-lens module, a slight leveling, removing some spots and these settings.

 

 

First step result:

 

 

Took this into DxO FilmPack and decided on the emulation of Kodak Ektachrome 100 VS

 

 

 

Opened the DxO output in Silver Efex where I started from the Preset "Full dynamic (smooth) and these additional settings:

 

 

Result:

 

 

(removed another spot in LR that appeared after the Silver Efex 'treatment')

 

Thanks, Malice for lending us this inspirational image.

[bani12]

Thank you Malice for letting us use your image for this exercise.

 

As always I have done everything in Lightroom and here is the end result:

 

 

I used these settings:

[Merco_61]

All basic edits done in Capture NX-D

The Auto ADL as shot was somewhere between Medium and High, I decided to raise it to High.

The Picture control was set to [SD]Standard, I changed it to [LS]Landscape

Crop to 16:9 to get the horizon closer to 1:3 from the bottom and get rid of the overwhelming shadows in the foreground.

 

 

Over to PS for some further tweaks.

I applied a 19% Wratten 85 warming filter.

I then cloned out the dustbunnies and the condensation droplet ring.

 

 

Thank you, Malice. This was an interesting file to work on. 

 

[Lightningad1]

heres my take on the shot. Really nice image, by the way!

 

 

 

i felt it needed lots of light- and the exposure was quite dark obviously because of shooting into the sun. 

 

In LR i added 2 stops of exposure, dropped the highlights and the white levels, and boosted the shadows. A bit of clarity and just a touch of Vibrance helped sharpen it.  Gave it a medium contrast tone curve.

Also used the lens correction to help remove distortions and after that i used the vignette to add a touch of shade to the corners.

 

Boosted the yellows with a brush adjustment that lifted the highlights on the flowers, and also darken the stems on the left shadowy side, and finally dropped the exposure on the road so it wasnt so overpowering.

 

Also used a grad filter on the sky but only adjusting the white balance slightly toward yellow just to remove some of the blue from the clouds.

 

adam

 

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[Malice]

First up, I want to thank all the participants for their great and inspirational insights and also Merco_61 for his efforts to keep this whole challenge up and running.

 

The two black and white renditions by Bart and bani12 are real eye-catchers for me, for two different quite reasons. Bart, your interpretation is very dramatic and moves the image into a direction, which hadn't come to my mind. By removing the colors and emphasizing the contrasts, the weather dynamics are more strongly moved to the viewers attention and adds a lot of tension to scene. If you allow me to be a little dramatic myself, it's a little like a battle between the light and the dark side befalling the realm of ordinary men living on the ground.

 

bani12, your version, even though it's also black and white is very different from Bart's. Your image appears much more peaceful and takes the viewer away down memory lane to a moment of happiness. To me, your image transports a lot of positive feelings.

 

Merco_61 (Peter), to me your work is thematically quite close to what I see in Bart's interpretation. Despite all of the light, the mood is somewhat dark and rather dramatic. In your version, the viewer appears to be a little more stuck in the here and now, without a real escape route, even though it seems to lie directly ahead of him. Maybe the viewer is a bit suspicious of what might be hidden along the path. This also creates a lot of tension.

 

deano and Lightningad1, you both use an approach, which focuses on the light or lighter side of things. A direction I had in mind, when taking the exposure. deano, your image gives of the impression of having spent a nice day outside and heading home, before the bad weather strikes. Compared to this, your image, Lightningad1, gives of the impression of still being in the middle of spending said nice day outside. I.e. a lot of good vibrations going on there, too, in my opinion.

 

Even though that by the rules of the challenge I'm called upon to give an opinion on what I like best, I'm having a hard time voicing an opinion. For me the greatest thing here is the diversity of the results, which all without exception have their own appeal.

 

Instead of favoring one result over another, I'm presenting my own processing result.

 

 

As you can see, I also went for a lighter and not quite as dramatic mood. Also, I chose the square format to emphasize the central perspective and tried to balance the different sections of the image. Unfortunately, it seems that I somehow managed to lose my settings in Lightroom, which I used to come up with this result. But, after seeing what all of you have come up with, I'm starting to think that I maybe should have a go at reprocessing this image, anyway.

 

So, thanks again for your participation and a lot of food for thought.

[deano]

I also feel that it is not necessary to produce a "winner" in these exercises.  I really like seeing all the variations of a single theme, helps me to think outside my box.

[Merco_61]

I suppose it is this sentence you mean?

The owner of the photo comments on the work done, highlighting what he liked best (both the interpretation itself and the technique used to get there) after the original week is over.

 

The purpose of the sentence is not to name a winner. It is a reminder to give positive feedback and highlight the positives of the entries. This is exactly what you both do very well after your week is over. 

[Jerry_]

Malice, thanks for having shared this capture with us for the exercise.

Once more, all processing done on the iPad (using PhotogenePro).

Some basic tweaks with the following settings:



Next I dodged the yellow flowers on both sides of the path, as well as giving the capture a slight crop.

This gave me my final interpretation




As an artistic interpretation of the capture I applied a painting simulation, as well as a frame.

[Malice]

@Jerry_:

 

Both of your versions are really interesting. The first one because of it's very soft and blurry look, despite all of the hard color contrast. And the second one is almost a Van Gogh. ;-) Kidding aside, the paint simulation was a very good idea with a great result. I wouldn't have imagined, something like this could come out of my exposure.