Post-Processing PP Challenge 140 -- Sac-town Smack Down

quh86 · 03-20-2015, 06:00 PM - **1 Like**

wow what a file, is this the camera or the lens? i mean wow! i never could pull such detail from my k-5

K David · 03-20-2015, 07:49 PM

Originally posted by quh86

is this the camera or the lens?

A little from column A, a little from column B. The 31mm at f5.6 is about as sharp as Pentax lenses get. I think that the K-S1 has the best sensor of any Pentax DSLR I've used. It's too bad they jammed it in such an ungainly body. If I could swap my K-3 sensor for the K-S1 sensor, I'd do it without a second thought. It has the absolute perfect pixel density.

Edit: I'll add that, I think, that if Ricoh had given the K-S1 a standard body like the K-r or K-50, it would be the best entry-level DSLR that had ever been made up to that point. In a traditional body, it would be at least as good as the K-3, even lacking a few bells and whistles.

D1N0 · 03-21-2015, 04:31 AM

The K-S2 has the same sensor.

K David · 03-21-2015, 09:35 AM

Originally posted by D1N0

The K-S2 has the same sensor.

I didn't know that. Now I'm even more excited to try the K-S2 in the near future.

indykpol · 03-21-2015, 10:20 AM

Here comes the best version!

indykpol · 03-21-2015, 11:23 AM - **1 Like**

Here comes the best one!

mail2richw · 03-21-2015, 11:43 AM

Gradient filters in LR with a few other tweaks.

Attached Images

View Picture EXIF

**pixelsaurus** · 03-21-2015, 03:11 PM

Originally posted by indykpol

Here comes the best one!

I'm still waiting for it to download.

sergeremy · 03-21-2015, 03:52 PM - **1 Like**

A fine picture! My 'just for fun' version:

lruggeri · 03-21-2015, 04:08 PM

Here is my sunset version. :-)

northcoastgreg · 03-21-2015, 08:40 PM

Originally posted by quh86

wow what a file, is this the camera or the lens? i mean wow! i never could pull such detail from my k-5

Probably the skill of the photographer combined with the lens (this appears to be taken with the FA 31).

Didn't do anything special for this, just did what I would normally do:

K David · 03-21-2015, 09:54 PM

This has been quite the series! I'm really impressed by the quality of editing in this challenge. The challenge is already over in some places and is coming rapidly to a close elsewhere. Get some last-minute entries in and I'll announce the winner in about 24 hours.

**NeatKnight** · 03-22-2015, 03:46 AM - **1 Like**

I'm too late but I guess I'll post it anyway

20watt · 03-22-2015, 06:52 AM

Originally posted by schnitzer79

good image to work with. heres my attempt.

Maybe it's a good idea for the winner to post a DNG version of the winning picture so everyone can see what settings were used? This way all of us can improve our PP skills a tad further and we can learn from eachother.

I for one would love to see the settings for Schnitzer79's pic...haven't been able to fully replicate it in LR

Thanks!

K David · 03-22-2015, 05:21 PM

Well, this was an excellent challenge. Thank you all to everyone who participated. I was really glad to see the level of interest in this contest and the shot.

More than 2/3 of these images would all be worthy of taking the prize. You guys really rose to the task of editing this image. In the end, this came down to a decision based on really nit-picky details and technical aspects. Your artistic decisions, be they involving a frosty Godzilla, image reflections, blurs, or whether you wanted the trees to look like autumn or summer trees were all really good and so no creative choice swayed my decisions one way or the other.

I picked three that I think captured the highest grade of post-processing acumen, stayed loyal to the rules of architectural photography (key in here was the verticals being vertical), retained the sunset coloration and general lighting characteristics, and did not have sharpening halos around the tree. The halos were very hard to mitigate in this image.

But first, here was what I did with the image back in November:

Significantly darker and muddier than the entries here and, were I to do it again, I'd take more control over the shadows and make the details and colors pop a lot more. So, I think that most every submission was a better edit in many ways than my own. Iruggeri, you were close to this but with better color quality.

So what I did to judge these was I opened the ten best in their own tab so that I could compare images without knowing who made them or seeing them in the context of other images. I kept going through them all until I was down to the last three.

Third: Thank you, Todd.

Second: Thank you, Arizona Dave

First: Thank you, quh86

I will say that for the first and second, it basically came down to a con flip. Even though the winner didn't have the sunset coloration, the trees on the bottom right kept their leaf detail and I think that was the hardest part of editing this image.

03-20-2015, 07:49 PM	#17
K David Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Colorado Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,437 Original Poster	Originally posted by quh86 is this the camera or the lens? A little from column A, a little from column B. The 31mm at f5.6 is about as sharp as Pentax lenses get. I think that the K-S1 has the best sensor of any Pentax DSLR I've used. It's too bad they jammed it in such an ungainly body. If I could swap my K-3 sensor for the K-S1 sensor, I'd do it without a second thought. It has the absolute perfect pixel density. Edit: I'll add that, I think, that if Ricoh had given the K-S1 a standard body like the K-r or K-50, it would be the best entry-level DSLR that had ever been made up to that point. In a traditional body, it would be at least as good as the K-3, even lacking a few bells and whistles. Last edited by K David; 03-20-2015 at 07:57 PM.

03-21-2015, 04:08 PM	#25
lruggeri New Member Join Date: Oct 2014 Posts: 5	Here is my sunset version. :-) Attached Images

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03-20-2015, 06:00 PM - 1 Like	#16
quh86 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 157	wow what a file, is this the camera or the lens? i mean wow! i never could pull such detail from my k-5

03-21-2015, 04:31 AM	#18
D1N0 Pentaxian Join Date: May 2012 Location: --- Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,802	The K-S2 has the same sensor.

03-21-2015, 09:35 AM	#19
K David Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Colorado Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,437 Original Poster	Originally posted by D1N0 The K-S2 has the same sensor. I didn't know that. Now I'm even more excited to try the K-S2 in the near future.

03-21-2015, 10:20 AM	#20
indykpol New Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Photos: Gallery Posts: 11	Here comes the best version!

03-21-2015, 11:23 AM - 1 Like	#21
indykpol New Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Photos: Gallery Posts: 11	Here comes the best one!

03-21-2015, 03:11 PM	#23
pixelsaurus Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Te Kuiti, NZ Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 986	Originally posted by indykpol Here comes the best one! I'm still waiting for it to download.

03-21-2015, 08:40 PM	#26
northcoastgreg Pentaxian Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Northern Michigan Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 6,174	Originally posted by quh86 wow what a file, is this the camera or the lens? i mean wow! i never could pull such detail from my k-5 Probably the skill of the photographer combined with the lens (this appears to be taken with the FA 31). Didn't do anything special for this, just did what I would normally do:

03-21-2015, 09:54 PM	#27
K David Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Colorado Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,437 Original Poster	This has been quite the series! I'm really impressed by the quality of editing in this challenge. The challenge is already over in some places and is coming rapidly to a close elsewhere. Get some last-minute entries in and I'll announce the winner in about 24 hours.

03-22-2015, 06:52 AM	#29
20watt New Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Alkmaar Posts: 1	Originally posted by schnitzer79 good image to work with. heres my attempt. Maybe it's a good idea for the winner to post a DNG version of the winning picture so everyone can see what settings were used? This way all of us can improve our PP skills a tad further and we can learn from eachother. I for one would love to see the settings for Schnitzer79's pic...haven't been able to fully replicate it in LR Thanks!

03-22-2015, 05:21 PM	#30
K David Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Colorado Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,437 Original Poster	Well, this was an excellent challenge. Thank you all to everyone who participated. I was really glad to see the level of interest in this contest and the shot. More than 2/3 of these images would all be worthy of taking the prize. You guys really rose to the task of editing this image. In the end, this came down to a decision based on really nit-picky details and technical aspects. Your artistic decisions, be they involving a frosty Godzilla, image reflections, blurs, or whether you wanted the trees to look like autumn or summer trees were all really good and so no creative choice swayed my decisions one way or the other. I picked three that I think captured the highest grade of post-processing acumen, stayed loyal to the rules of architectural photography (key in here was the verticals being vertical), retained the sunset coloration and general lighting characteristics, and did not have sharpening halos around the tree. The halos were very hard to mitigate in this image. But first, here was what I did with the image back in November: Significantly darker and muddier than the entries here and, were I to do it again, I'd take more control over the shadows and make the details and colors pop a lot more. So, I think that most every submission was a better edit in many ways than my own. Iruggeri, you were close to this but with better color quality. So what I did to judge these was I opened the ten best in their own tab so that I could compare images without knowing who made them or seeing them in the context of other images. I kept going through them all until I was down to the last three. Third: Thank you, Todd. Second: Thank you, Arizona Dave First: Thank you, quh86 I will say that for the first and second, it basically came down to a con flip. Even though the winner didn't have the sunset coloration, the trees on the bottom right kept their leaf detail and I think that was the hardest part of editing this image.