Originally posted by rm2 I don't know how you resisted the temptation of bumping up the saturation, but it looks very nice as it is. Lovely shot.
Thanks. I actually do not bump saturation up as a rule for a few years now (means almost never, rules are here to be broken, but only with a reason). I like realistic colors my camera and lenses produce, so I start RAW processing with a profile based on either "film like curves" or curves based on what the camera have set, and try to only change exposure, contrast (restraining myself here as well), highlights compression and color balance - colors/levels wise, if possible. Sometimes with slight additional curves touches with high dynamic range pictures. Since I started to use this workflow, I am more satisfied with the results, compared to when I always started with auto levels button, which at least for me almost always creates oversaturated and
too high contrast result, often hard to get back to something naturally looking. I am using RawTherapee.