Photoflow:
IMG_4999_bridge.pfi (48.0 KB)
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Nice edit!
Dodge / Burn is one tool which I find would be useful in Darktable. Interesting seeing how you achieved that using tone curves & masks. I wonder if an actual dodge / burn tool will be a future addition to Darktable?
Thanks 
Actually I don’t think a dedicated dodge/burn tool could be more helpful than the tone curve in combination with drawn/parametric masks. I even prefer curves + layer masks in GIMP and Krita over the actual dodge/burn tool because of having finer, non-destructive control.
Thanks @afre, the location is the cover pic of Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 map of Loch Tay & Glen Dochart, so quite a well known location, although call it the “Packhorse Bridge”. Might be worth a visit again in the autumn, with golden trees on the leaves, and hopefully more water in the falls.
@msd, looks like I’ll need to experiment with the tone curves & masks in darktable, rather than say exporting to gimp, doing dodging & burning there, and then reimporting back into darktable. As you say more control that way, plus it’s non destructive.
Certainly lots for me to have a play with when I have another go at editing the image 
Might end up using the final version for a submission to my local photographic associations monthly competitions.
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Ouh, the initial pix was already quite good. I like your contrasty colors a lot though. However, I believe that images goes very well with 6x7 type crop.
But that’s just my opinion.
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Very nice picture @Brian_Innes !
It reminds me very much of Adam Gibbs photography:
I like his approach with soft light and have tried to bring this atmosphere to your photo:
I have used darktable and GIMP with G’MIC.
darktable file:
IMG_4999.CR2.xmp (10,7 KB)
In the G’MIC I used specific saturisation filter to increase colour contrast.
In the GIMP itself I mainly used dodge and burn to accentuate some picture elements. At the end I added a subtle Orton effect to give the whole scene a soft look.
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@msd, I mean that I tend to export from darktable to gimp, then do dodging and burning in there, then reimport back into darktable. So I think I’ll try and get familiar with the tone curves in Darktable using masks
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@sls141, I’ve had a look at your darktable xmp file, interesting use of the soften filter with parametric mask to smooth the water a little more Lovely images.
@Brian_Innes I missed this very nice shot of yours when it was initially posted, fortunately the thread has been re-bumped by @Kasyap.Sankara!
For me this image calls for a B&W rendering. I have tried to highlight the two main subjects in the scene, namely the bridge and the river, using several different curves applied locally (sort of dodge&burn technique, but with curves and layer masks).
Here is what I managed to achieve:
IMG_4999.pfi (90.5 KB)
Processed with my PhotoFlow editor as usual
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