Hi all
Moonlit scene so expect it to be dark but there is detail in there.
Lets see what you can do to keep it
a, honest
and / or b, believable
_MG_1119.CR2 (19.6 MB)
This file is licensed Creative Commons, By-Attribution, Share-Alike.
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You can’t be honest to a scene you have not witnessed… Believable, yes. Honest, no.
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Looks like this to me:
You wanted the detail, so I used a technique I’ve been using with images like this, a bright highlight but the majority is in the weeds. First I apply a log curve to lift the shadows to where they can be seen, then a S-shaped control point curve to put things to my interpretation.
Quite a few wonky pixels, some which survived the downsize.
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I should have cloned out the flare rather than desaturated etc. And I think the sky could lose some more of the redness. But time for bed.
_MG_1119-moonlitview-RawConvert.xmp (50.0 KB)
It is playing…I tried the low light module just for the heck of it …I think I like the blue version…not maybe keeping it honest though…and I didn’t really do much to it…
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Hi,
In Rawtherapee:
With only 2 modules and few clicks I already see the green color of the grass:
Regards,
Arturo.
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question.of.honesty.pp3 (17.7 KB) RawTherapee 5.8 Development.
I opted for a bluer look. It is rather hard to determine what the overall colour would have looked like without having been there and I do associate night with dark blue skies. Then again, maybe there’s light pollution influencing the colours toward brownish/orange.
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Probably neither honest nor believable!
Created 4 different exposure levels from the raw and blended with enfuse.
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Nice play, thanks for posting! My most honest attempt using RT 5.8 dev.
Camera WB was too warm IMO, so I altered it a bit
_MG_1119_RT-1.jpg.out.pp3 (15.0 KB)
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Can anyone be honest about a scene even if they witnessed? 24 hours later I don’t really remember what I saw. I edit to make a good looking photo. Honesty is ephemeral, subjective and elusive. If not impossible.
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Hi folks,
Thanks for taking the time on this, comments too give lots to think about (or not - think less do more…)
Anyhoo, the honesty bit was fishing for ideas on how far to illuminate a dark scene. Think it came out ok
before and after screen grab
and a 25% jpeg from the stitched tiff from 8 horizontal images
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jimd_MG_1119.CR2.xmp (17.8 KB)
Moonlight, being just Sunlight bounced off a distance reflector is not very much different than sunlight. Only darker. From photographing portraits under moonlight I learned that digital cameras have no problem capturing that. But our own night-vision somehow sees those colors rather muted and shifted towards blue.
Since photography is never really honest let’s go with beautiful or interesting. 
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I think it’s mostly credible. The only things that bother me are the faint green and red lights near the center.