I used Darktable and GIMP. In Darktable I have reduced the contrasts and with GIMP intensified the lightness and colours of the tree and the soil. After that I applied Kodak Portra 160 film emulation:
Authentic reproduction is not so important to me. I use film emulations rather intuitively. I look at the overall impression they convey and how they affect the important details of the image.
Applying Kodak Portra 160 emulation in this picture, the warm tones of the evening sun reflected by tree bark and grasses are discreetly emphasized without strongly affecting the blue colors of the sky and green color of the leaves and grasses.
I’m not sure, if I understand you correctly. Do you consider the quality of the emulation as bad? Or did you mean the results from the very early days of color photography are that bad? In case of the latter, I think that imperfection can add to the aesthetics of a photo.
In fact I can see halos in some of the edits, somtimes they are quite pronounced. In my own edit I might find it, when looking long enough and viewing it on a smaller scale. It is in fact a result from processing. I tried a slightly different version and I wonder if you still see a halo.
Since I liked @PkmX’s so much, I used Kodak Portra 400 NC ++ on my take. Unfortunately, G’MIC doesn’t have 3+. (Thanks @patdavid for the clut.) Processing:
PhotoFlow
a) Daylight WB, hot pixels + lens corrections, linear ACES without clipping.
b) Subtle rotation to the left, crop.
gmic
a) Apply gamma, increase local contrast, remove gamma.
b) Generate DD mask from D50 L*.
c) Blend original image with local contrast variant using the lightness mask.
d) Apply gamma, apply Kodak Portra 400 NC ++.
e) Prep for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!
Feedback appreciated. I want to improve. Perhaps a tighter crop from the top would be nice…
Thanks, I discovered this view when examining the image on my smartphone in portrait mode. I often do this to double check the colors of the image, since none of my screens are profiled. This perspective makes feel like I was there and, fortunately, I kept enough detail and contrast to make it work.
My editing style is entirely inspired by film. My favorites being Kodak Portra in varying speeds and the Fuji Pro film series. For that reason, I usually stay in the “Negative New” tab in the film emulation presets (thank you again, @patdavid) in G’MIC and various RAW editors where they are available. Custom curves, strength and intensity tailored to each particular image, are a big part of my work flow as are color layers set to a low opacity on soft light or what ever mode suits best.
For the more “artistic” edits, I nearly always stick to GIMP, while RT and DT are used for basic things such as, WB, CA correction, defringing, and exposure compensation where needed. If working in DT, I always apply the Fuji Film base curve to every image despite the fact I shoot with a NIKON D90.
I like this treatment. On another forum, folks have been dredging up old railroad photos of historical significance, and some look a lot like this (well, put a train in place of the lighthouse… )
The second step was to match that image in darktable, first I’ve centered the middle gray at 18% again, the working space was set to PQ bt.2020,then I’ve used rgb curves and the HCL equalizer.
In gimp I’ve added a very small amount of grain and bloom effect in the highlights with a luminosity mask
Lovely photograph!
My attempt in GIMP. I felt that the tree and the foreground should frame the lighthouse.
As to film emulation: a sort of Provia, by adjusting component colours.
In case of the latter, I think that imperfection can add to the aesthetics of a photo.
)
