Chopin's House - which version is better?

lisieckima · Nov 6, 2012

Hi,

I have made different versions of the same image and I'd like to know your opinion. Which of them do you perceive as the best version?

My goal is to achieve more realistic HDR images but sometimes they look a bit plain with colors washed out. On the other side, I'd like not to overprocess the image to look unnatural.

Version 1

fused with Photomatix
tonemapped with SNS-HDR

Version 2

fused with Photomatix
tonemapped with SNS-HDR
saturation increased with Photoshop

Version 3

fused with Photomatix
tonemapped with SNS-HDR
added Nik Color Efex Pro Polarization filter

Version 4

fused with Photomatix
tonemapped with SNS-HDR
added Nik Color Efex Pro Polarization filter
saturation increased in PS

Any feedback will be appreciated.

lisieckima · Nov 8, 2012

Have you got any ideas? It would be nice to get some feedback about these photos - whether they are overprocessed or not and what kind of improvement you recommend

spang1mw · Nov 8, 2012

Personally I like the first one the best. I would bump up the contrast a bit on the image and leave the saturation alone. The saturation on images 2-4 are just too high and make the images look over processed. The contrast boost in #1 should fix the colors so they don't look washed out. Hope that helps!

How does this look? Just a quick edit

lisieckima · Nov 9, 2012

Thanks a lot. That was very helpful. I can see the difference now. I'll play with the contrast then.

lisieckima · Nov 9, 2012

I did some further refinements:

I encreased the local contrast:

Then I increased the global contrast:

And, finally, I used the selective color to add a little of blacks to the greens to make them less vivid:

I hope the image won't become too dark in the print.

I played conservatively with the contrast adjustments but I'll try more courageous approach.

lisieckima · Nov 9, 2012

Another approach - I used Nik Color Efex Pro Contrast:

I noticed that increasing local contrast makes the image a little bit unnatural.

lisieckima · Nov 10, 2012

Here'a a simple comparison of a complete hdr version with single bracket from the set.

Single exposure, no processing

HDR version, 3 brackets, tonemapped

unpopular · Nov 10, 2012

Is the house pink?

lisieckima · Nov 10, 2012

No, it's white but it has been shot in the morning sun. Do you think that the white balance might be off? I tried to select the neutral point in the image when I was setting the WB.

unpopular · Nov 10, 2012

I don't think the overall white balance is off. Since tonemapping makes local adjustments one region may render correctly, while others not. In this case, I think the orange-pink cast on the white is at odds with the rest of the image.

I used Photolines HSL curve to correct the problem. Photoshop's Hue/sat may work as well, but may require a bit more masking.

panblue · Nov 10, 2012

#3 or #4 maybe. These look quite similar to me.
Chopin's house ..how wonderful!! I'd like to visit there.

lisieckima said:
Hi,

I have made different versions of the same image and I'd like to know your opinion. Which of them do you perceive as the best version?

My goal is to achieve more realistic HDR images but sometimes they look a bit plain with colors washed out. On the other side, I'd like not to overprocess the image to look unnatural.

Version 1

fused with Photomatix

tonemapped with SNS-HDR

View attachment 25134

Version 2

fused with Photomatix

tonemapped with SNS-HDR

saturation increased with Photoshop

View attachment 25135

Version 3

fused with Photomatix

tonemapped with SNS-HDR

added Nik Color Efex Pro Polarization filter

View attachment 25136

Version 4

fused with Photomatix

tonemapped with SNS-HDR

added Nik Color Efex Pro Polarization filter

saturation increased in PS

View attachment 25133

Any feedback will be appreciated.

unpopular · Nov 10, 2012

Who is this Chopin' guy anyway? A famous butcher or something?

lisieckima · Nov 10, 2012

Thank you for your feedback. I haven't noticed that color cast until you pointed it out. That's why I appreciate that kind of objective look at the photo that helps to improve it. Probably the whites became 'dirty' when I tried to show the details in highlights areas.

I did some masking and desaturated these areas using Hue/Saturation adjustment level in PS to make them more neutral. This is the result:

panblue · Nov 10, 2012

unpopular said:
Who is this Chopin' guy anyway? A famous butcher or something?

Best lamb chops in the whole of Żelazowa Wola, apparently.

unpopular · Nov 10, 2012

lisieckima said:
Thank you for your feedback. I haven't noticed that color cast until you pointed it out. That's why I appreciate that kind of objective look at the photo that helps to improve it. Probably the whites became 'dirty' when I tried to show the details in highlights areas.

I did some masking and desaturated these areas using Hue/Saturation adjustment level in PS to make them more neutral. This is the result:

View attachment 25355

Great work!