LightZone vs. Photoshop Elements

Tonight I downloaded the 30day free trial of Light Craft's LightZone software. I have been experimenting and hope to get some feedback. My lovely wife can only tolerate the question "Which image do you prefer?" so many times. So I turn to my knowledgable friends on PentaxForums. The original image was taken on the K10D using Tamron 17-35 shooting DNG.
The below image is a straightforward Raw(DNG) conversion in Photoshop Elements using ACR 3.6


The image below is a straightforward Raw conversion with Benjamin Karnarack's Accentuation Process. This photograph would be typical of my workflow in Photoshop Elements.

The image below is how Lightzone interpreted the K10D DNG file without any changes.

The image below is the result of my utilizing some exposure compensation and accentuation within LightZone.

The last image is my favorite. The color separation on the yellow plant in foreground is especially notable. Do others prefer it, too?
If so, what I conclude is that in 1 hour, I have learned to create a better image in LightZone than I have in 2 years using Elements. Comments, suggestions and tips most welcome and appreciated.
PS: I apologize if the four photos are hard to compare as laid out on top of each other.

[db2]

Raw processing in Elements seems lame compared to other processors I've tried, Bibble and Rawshooter Essentials. I am using the latter as it was free and is excellent. Bibble is great too and has a really good sharpening system.

[khardur]

Well, I prefer the bottom one myself, yes. But looking at the photos - the top two never had a chance, it looks like the flowers are blown out, and the exposure/contrast overall is a lot brighter at the start than the bottom.

Kudos to LZ for not blowing out the flowers with a straightforward conversion. The question is could you replicate the look using Elements by just reducing the exposure/contrast some when you open the RAW file? There seems to be a huge difference in the starting exposure values between the Elements and the LZ pics.

[Wethphotography]

Dan, thanks for the feedback. I agree with you about the top two. I went back and converted the image again in Elements and got a similar result. I did lower the exposure/contrast. The result was a much darker image. I then tried to lighten using levels within Elements. Things improved a little but not much.
Elements: LightZone:

I do not mean to blame Elements as I am sure that I do not know how to get the most from an image using it. I am going to test several other images, too. At the moment I far prefer the workflow of Elements with ACR. But I find LightZone far more intuitive to use and get results I like. At Db2 suggestion I will also try Bibble.
Here is one more done in LightZone:

[dmdctusa]

Erl,

Very nice work.! I especially like the last one.

I use Lightzone (PC Version) as my principal editing tool because it allows me to function as I once did in the wet darkroom. One thing I have found, with my Lightzone workflow, is that a well calibrated monitor is absolutely necessary and that an onboard graphics adapter was a limiting factor. After changing to a Nvidia PCI 16 card editing became very much more reliable.

My major complaint with Lightzone is the program's use of color wheels for adjustments....they are simply too small to make accurate adjustments. So for those cases where I must make critical color adjustments, I will be upgrading to CS3, but using it only as a last resort until Lightzone can improve its color correction tools with something that can give better control and accuracy.

[Wethphotography]

David, thanks for the feedback and suggestions for optimizing LightZone.

[dmdctusa]

Originally Posted by dmdctusa

Erl,

My major complaint with Lightzone is the program's use of color wheels for adjustments....they are simply too small to make accurate adjustments. So for those cases where I must make critical color adjustments, I will be upgrading to CS3, but using it only as a last resort until Lightzone can improve its color correction tools with something that can give better control and accuracy.

After the Lightzone upgrade to 3.0 and its latest updates (3.0.6), I WILL NOT BE UPGRADING TO CS3. The new "relight" tool and other improvements have overcome most of my earlier complaints. Since I am on a PC, I also can use Picture Window Pro for functions that Lightzone still lacks like masks. Also PWPro has the Color Mechanic function that lets you remove color cast from an image very quickly...this particularly useful for cleaning up images shot under fluorescent lighting.