I initially processed this image in Darktable but wasn’t satisfied with the out come. It seemed too washed out still.
This was also when I made the mistake of exporting a cropped version. I worked on the cropped version in Gimp and used a G’mic film emulation filter (Fuji 3513 Cuspclip I believe). this was the result:
I really like the way the rock came out, but wasn’t satisfied with the lock (it seemed to over processed) and the water still didn’t have the color and detail I wanted. Also I had only done this to a cropped image and wanted to be able to use the full sized image.
I started over in darktable and got to this:
I’m happy now with everything but the rock (I know i still have to do spot touch ups from sensor dust and a slight correction to a water drop on the “R”). I really want to get the rock to look more like what I got in output from the G’mic filter but without mindlessly adjusting sliders or affecting the rest of the image.
So, does anyone have any advice on how to adjust the rock to be less blue-green and more charcoal-grey without affecting the rest of the image? I tried some masks but could not get just the rock without adversely affecting water.
First, I quite like the colors and details in this - very pretty!
Is this a case where you could generate two versions of the image and combine them with a manual mask in GIMP to paint in the colors and detail from the G’MIC output but confine it to only the rock? Feathering the mask in might help to isolate it from the surrounding water a little bit?
I didn’t get the 'blue gray effect on the rock. Maybe you were a bit heavy on the whitebalance?
It’s too bad darktable doesn’t support multiple whitebalance instances at the moment.
You could also just try blending the two edits in gimp via layer masks (add both images as layers add a mask to the one on top and just ‘pain it in’.
But we do allow uploading the .xmp file explicitly at least.
(Sorry). I can have a look at the code and see what we might need to modify to stop stripping that exif data from jpg’s…
I think stripping the metadata is actually a good thing in the general use case (though not for us, so much), as cameras can embed all sorts of stuff you may not want to share, such as GPS coordinates. I don’t think your average user knows how to strip it or that it is even there.
I processed the image with the standard color matrix, an exposure compensation of +1.5EV and a spot WB on the rock surface at the right of the lock, then applied the Fuji 3513 Cuspclip film emulation filter.
Next I applied an RGB curve like that to the film emulation output, to increase the contrast in the rock:
The curve was applied though a diagonal gradient mask to protect the upper-left corner from being brightened too much.
This curve completely destroyed the texture in the lock, so I have “restored” it by applying a copy of the film emulation output through a Hue mask that only selects the yellow colors.
Then I improved a bit the contrast of the lock with this RGB curve (always trough the Hue mask):
Finally I applied some overall local contrast enhancement to give the textures a bit more “pop”.
Thanks for the advice and suggestions, they have been very helpful to give me ideas. I am still very much a beginner at processing from RAW and tend to overdo things.
I did some retries last night but nothing satisfactorily yet. I’m going to try some more and if all else fails I will blend multiple images in Gimp through layers and masks.
It’s very frustrating when you can “see” in your head what you want to produce on the screen but it eludes you.
I think I came up with something I am satisfied with. I had to resort to processing the image three ways, once each for the rock, lock and water. Then a final blending and touch-up in Gimp.
It would seem less is more. I really like the detail in your edit. I definitely tend to over do things a bit and end up trying to compensate for that in my edits. Looking at yours was quite informative.
I couldn’t stop thinking about getting this image right and after studying Jonas edit, I think I finally came up with something I am truly satisfied with.
