Tried out some of the goodies in upcoming Darktable 3.6. In particular:
color grading with Color balance RGB
selective sharpening using the contrast equalizer and detail mask
the big revelation for me here was using another instance of Color balance RGB with a mask for vignetting – the global brilliance is very well suited for this, and additionally global chroma can be decreased a bit on the edges if desired
Pretty happy with this edit, but would love to see what others get out of this
Just some quick and basic adjustments (took about 10 mins or less), tried to preserve a bit more details on the bright flowers, and a bit colder look as a personal preference.
Thanks for the excellent edits everyone! It’s interesting to see how everyone emphasizes different parts of the plant. And yes, the crop by @sls141 looks definitely very good, something I probably couldn’t have come up with.
@flannelhead@Jade_NL Thanks.
The composition of the shot is very good. You have all of the foreground leaves included with the flowers very nicely. But then the details of the flowers aren’t as pronounced.
Thus, my decision for a crop. At first I tried something like this:
But the leaves in the upper right are lost and they are nicely in focus with the light hitting them enough to stand out from the background.
Admittedly, it’s not a conventional crop, but this is “Play” Raw.
To see the steps I took, place the .xmp file alongside the raw (.orf) file in a folder and open the file in darktable. This way you should see my edit.
Turns out I attached the wrong XMP Try again, I edited the right XMP there now. Thanks for notifying about the issue!
Thanks! I actually thought of printing post cards.
I’ve not found the sensor size too restrictive especially if one practices ETTR correctly (in good light anyway). Darktable 3.6 detail masking helps as well in increasing the apparent sharpness by boosting the sharpest details. At least in images like this one, or bird images with a smooth background. Dual demosaic is probably also nice if there are further issues with noise in the demosaicing.
Anyway I think it’s the Sigma 56/1.4 lens that really shines here. A little marvel of a lens if you ask me, and very reasonably priced.
Try again, I edited the right XMP there now. Thanks for notifying about the issue!