Creative Effects Challenge No. 129 - RAW Let's Go Inside

[hmca]

Very interesting mix of tones, Tony. So glad you are enjoying this challenge.

[Chris]

There are some excellent sumbissions here. i have enjoyed this challenge. Here is my take.

First some basic adjustments in ACR to increase exposure, brighten shadows and darken highlights.
Then on to PS Elements. Brightened the doors, darkened the windows. Added a Topaz AI bright and detailed filter. Then on to Lightroom to decrease saturation, add a vignette, a little barrel distortion and slight crop.






Kind regards
Chris

[Chris]

Here is my second attempt. I wanted to create a vintage look. In Silver Efex Pro2 I added a copper/sepia tone and a strong vignette (Lens falloff) and added a vintage border from Jixipix Chromatic Edges. I darkened some distractions with a brightness/Contrast adjustment layer.






Kind regards
Chris

[hmca]

Glad you are enjoying the challenge, Chris. You have certainly brightened up the entrance area in your first submission. The vintage look was a good editing choice for your second image.
I think the photographer was correct in thinking that our members would provide a variety of options for editing the original file.

[Lillias]

Definitely not an easy image to work with. Started afresh in PSE. After camera raw changes, duplicated the result twice.
To the first duplicate I added a glowing edges filter with the hue blend mode.
I added a Threshold adjustment filter to the second duplicate and gave it a colour burn blend mode.
A kind of psychedelic look!!!

[hmca]

It appears like the vibrant tones of the opera spilled out to the entry foyer....a most original edit, Lillias!

[Fauxtoto]

live.staticflickr.com/65535/50242039382_f03f1b9ef7_o.jpg

Thank you Helen. This is a real challange. I tried to replicate a faked HDR. In ACR, I did 4 different versions of the whole original image, but adjusted each version for a different part : a) the wood work b) the walls and floor c) ceiling d) the outside. Most of the adjustments in ACR were done with Exposure, Shadows, Highlights, and Details. Each version was saved in a distinct psd format file with its own name. I opened the 4 distinct PSD files in a new one, where each of them became a layer. I then lost control for a while but finally managed to isolate the desired part from each layer either by extraction or with a mask.

[hmca]

All your work seems to have paid off, Maurice. You have lightened the interior nicely. What did you use for noise reduction?

[Fauxtoto]

Aug 18, 2020 21:44:13 GMT hmca said:

What did you use for noise reduction?

Thank you Helen. For the whole project I used PSE 14.1 with the inherent ACR 9.5. For sharpening and noise reduction I used the Detail tab in ACR, before I opened the image in the editor as a PSD file. Both sharpening (Amount slider) and noise reduction (Luminance slider) were mostly applied to the wood work.

[hmca]

Thanks, Maurice. I don't detect any noise in your image and your details don't seem to be compromised.

[hmca]

The person who submitted this entry will be posting his favorite edits later today or tomorrow. Stay tuned.
For the future I will have the choices posted on the Friday before the next challenge. If you would like to submit an image
for the next RAW Challenge please send me a private message. Thanks to everyone who submitted an edit for this challenge.

[alexr]

Please let me begin by thanking you all for spending the time to play with my image.
As Helen outlined at the start, my aim on taking it was to show the beauty of the interior of this historic building (the Coliseum theatre in London for those that hadn't spotted the clues). Unfortunately I was never very happy with it, mainly because I had clipped too much from the ceiling, which also meant I couldn't straighten it without losing even more of the arch. But anyway, I was facinated to see what this community would come up with.
But first, I did a fairly straight processing of what I had in mind, using Luminar 4.
I used the Luminar AI Accent to lift the lighting inside, then removed chromatic aberation and defringed. Then dropped the highlights right down to see as much as possible outside (although the street is a bit messy I still wanted it to look like a street), then lifted the shadows further until I could see the door panels more clearly.Then had a think about the crop. Although I loved the side lines, I did feel they distracted from the actual door and stopped you looking up so cropped it square, which happily got rid of my camera bag. I de-noised sufficient to retain the detail of the wood grain. And then spent a bit of time tidying, deleting bits and bobs and changing the hue of the barrier.


London Coliseum foyer by AlexR!, on Flickr

So, looking at your great versions I am struggling to select a favourite 3, they are all so good, but I do have to. I love how so many of you have brought out the textures of the building and show it in a different light. But my particular mentions have to go to the following:

fotofrank  (colour version) as this is closest to what I had in mind, and as I tried to create as described above.
Peterj for being so brave as to cut the door and really focus the eye upwards. And I love how the monochrome treatment works, again I would never have done it and lost the coloured panelling.
Lillias (psychedelic version) for just such a mad explosion of colour. I truly love it.

Thank you again all.

[Lillias]

Thank you for your comments alexr and for allowing us to work on your photo. Congratulations to Frank and Peter J.

[hmca]

Thanks for submitting this challenging image, Alex. Thanks also to our members who took on this challenge and shared their vision for his photo. Congratulations to Frank, Pete and Lillias for making Alex's final cut.

I will also take this opportunity to again ask for a submission for the next RAW Challenge which will begin on October 17th. Please PM me if you would like to submit an image.

[Fauxtoto]

Alex, thank you for you commnents and for sharing your image. Thank you to everyone who submitted their takes. Most interesting.