Post Processing Challenge

If you post this as a gallery competition then that wouldn't be a problem - larger than is actually needed, but it would give more "editing room".

Thanks for the feedback. I think there is enough positive feedback to give the idea a go.

I don’t see this as a serious, formal competition through the gallery route. I see this as mainly a fun diversion with the element of competition I think the least important and for that reason would not want it to be another voting competition. The last attempt on that seems to have ended in tears anyway and I don‘t want to go there. I do however envisage plenty of benefits conducive to the seriousness of the forum.

I would set the challenge up as one single thread in this section and of course I’m happy to give the first one a go. I would post an unmodified photo to the thread - which is of course a maximum size 800 pixels, together with a link to download either the original sized JPEG or raw, DNG file if appropriate.

There could be many reasons to submit a photo to the challenge. I might have a photo that I consider already very good but would like to see if someone could add an extra something for a real wow factor. I might have a photo I quite like but need inspiration to make the most of it. I might have a photo which I am unhappy with but think might be redeemed in ways that I haven‘t thought of. I might have a photo that suits a number of quite different looks and I want to see a range of options which I might not think of myself. I might want to see examples of post processing that I don’t indulge in myself to see if that’s an avenue I might wish to explore. I might just want to encourage others to go pp wild on a photo and see if anything interesting comes out.

I don’t think there should be any rules on what photo to submit as I think everyone has the sense to set a workable challenge. A razor sharp tightly framed macro would probably not be suitable, but I‘m sure everyone would realise that. Neither do I think photos with technical issues such as some blown highlights or out of focus subjects should be precluded - in fact I think that would be a rather interesting challenge, so there would be no worries about posting a ‘poor‘ photo.

In setting the challenge an outline brief would be beneficial, although just an outline so as not to stifle creativity. I would set no limits on processing, but if the person setting the challenge wished to add some limits (eg: no pixels added) then I wouldn’t object to that either.

I would imagine that most members would be able to participate. On many photos a crop, a decision on black and white, sepia, other tone and some contrast adjustment can make a huge difference and free editors can be quite versatile. There will of course be photos where skilled photoshoppers might be in a position to make the best of it. But I regard that as an opportunity for the rest of us to learn, and that’s why I want to play down the sense of competition.

Processed entries would be submitted to the thread on an ongoing basis, as they are in the fortnightly competition. I don’t see any need for a step by step analysis of what has been done but a brief overview might be beneficial. If someone has a particular interest in a photo then they could always contact the member independently to discuss the nitty gritty.

The person who sets the challenge would select an entrant to whom the baton be passed. I hesitate to use the term judging but the reason for that selection should be made clear. In line with what already happens in the competitions I think the decision should be accompanied by a brief commentary on each entry. The photo selected might be subtly enhanced or wildly different from the original.

In terms of photo hosting I think I have found somewhere suitable, but I need to investigate further. In passing the challenge on I could pass on the account details too and the next person can then use the hosting service - I‘m looking at it.

I see the following benefits:

To see side by side comparisons of the same scene is probably the best way to learn about post processing possibilities for all involved.

It will encourage the furtherance of processing skills.

The host might get a really good photo out of it that they are unable to produce themselves.

It might introduce those who don’t post process to the range of tools, many free, available for post processing.

It’s a fun thing to do.

That's how it all seems to work at the other place and it appears successful.

Just to give some concrete examples, I’ll post some types of photos soon that I think would work. Then I’ll set up the first one. My view is that if it takes off then great, if it doesn’t then never mind. If there are barriers to it working then it can scrapped. If the PU Team objects for whatever reason and wishes to delete all this, then no worries whatsoever.

Give it a go and see what happens?

Was called Raw Challenge and the idea was to download the raw image and process. As you can see from the link it didn't last long but maybe worth another go.

It would be easier to use a JPEG file, which will instantly make it more accessible to more people. Not everyone will have a RAW converter, especially if a very new DSLR is used.

I'm not saying one way or another .. just providing a link to what has been tried before.

The problem I can see is that people use different PP programs and I for one just enlisted in Photoshop in the local community centre as I am rubbish in PP. Apart from the odd crop or just brighten/darken an image everything I do/post is just well below par.
That's part why I do not enter challenges (unless I feel I got a good picture from start onward).
I like playing around with RAW files but I do not even know how to save the resulting picture (or exporting it???) so I keep the results rather for myself then making a laughing stock out of myself.
I know what I want a picture to look like and in a 'darkroom' I can manage this but on the computer it is so much different that I will not even attempt to try anything like this.
BUT THAT'S ONLY ME AND SHOULD NOT DISCOURAGE ANYONE ELSE!

Well I would encourage you to partcipate and learn. I don't think anyone entering a picture anywhere on this forum would be considered a laughing stock. Maybe part of the benfit would be to see what could be made out of a 'poor' picture. I think you might be pleasantly surprised.

I think its an excellent idea - It would be very interesting to see how much effect the right processing could make (and how effective small changes can be). Going on my very first workshop type course at the weekend and I'm looking forward to it.

I would take this one up straight away but the problem is, as mentioned before, everyone is using different programs and with that it is nearly impossible to learn as items that I need to use are in different locations and may well work different.
I am one of my worst critiques but if I can not get help of how to get a result that is actually close to acceptable and I can not get any help in any way of how to archive it, what is the point?
There are some challenges where I know I can get close to what I want to archive and only need minimal PP (believe me I am working hard on 'Egg', no puns intended) but to post it, it has to come out close to the finish I have in my mind or it is not worth it.
I may have a more 'artistic eye' and see things that I really can not put in to words of what I seen in them.So all I get is 'so it again' or 'wrong this and wrong that' or even 'I can not see what you want to archive with this' (the lone tree in the night that was so dark that you can hardly see it is one of the examples. I needed help with the light and by now after several nights that where thankfully dry, I am slowly getting there and I know what I may have done wrong in the first place and that actually was PP. No-one suggested stacking RAW images and edit the highlights in one and the shadows in the other etc. All I got was 'I can not see what you tried to do' or 'it is to dark (which was obvious)' but no real help. I wish you luck and I can see some great images coming up but sadly there is not much in help on how to archive a pleasing image apart from using a different crop or to get closer to an object, which may well be impossible, or that the noise is to high.
Perfection is fine but if you do not know how to get there and if you do not get the hints and help it may well put off the most patient person as it is the same comment over and over again.
And if you ask for comments or critiques you get 100s of views but only four or fife replies.

It seem that I am getting misunderstood or misinterpreted by what I try to bring across.
First off, I am very happy with the Egg challange and I hope that it will show in the finished result.
The point I try to raise is that when asking for opinions, it comes most of the time down to a 'cropping factor'.
And sadly that is what I can see will happen with a PP challenge. Unless the winning picture has to disclose how they got from a to b in greater detail so that people that are not that confident or do lack the knowledge of proper PP (like me, but I am sure there are many others that feel overwhelmed by choices and that just want to get results) there will be only a few that will lead the field.
I am not saying to suppress anyone but give out informations how the picture was altered so that others that may not be that knowledgeable can reproduce the steps and actually learn from a challenge like this by reading how the winner got from a to b, that in principle is all I try to brig across.
I would NEVER complain about a challenge just because I don't like it but on the other hand I want to learn from it and that seems to be missing.

I did start the mentioned Raw Challenge here, idea was to play with RAW file to fully extract potential of PP'ing (while provading bsic info of how effect was achieved).
First apperance and discussion following it is here:
https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/topic/raw-challenge--1-11377/p-0

I don't want to be negative, piotro, but that thread seems to have died. I think what we are talking about is a possibly very good picture that needs some tweaks to achieve it's full potential.

Nothing to be negative about .
In my opinion it was rather to have bad picture to try to extract/repair as much as possible (especially using RAWs), but as you said that thread died, so for new one someone may possibly learn from that.

I don't think starting with a bad picture is a good way to to get people interested.