RAW Challenge #2

Release the special effects

Ok, I didn't expect such a high number of entries (16 in total) - and I'm not the best at this judging business, I have thumbnailed each shot and tried to give constructive feedback as best I can.


- Kemp - Well processed colour and tone and a different crop, good work pulling the detail in the cranes and building in the distance while not over-sharpening the foreground.


- Mike-P - Interesting choice of crop although the tree in the bottom right pulls the eye away from the cranes which appear to be the main choice of focal point, details retained well and colours look very natural.


- Steve O - Nicely processed tones and shadows, putting the awkward tree in towards the centre of the frame makes it a less noticeable distraction.


- Mannesty - Very naturally edited, haze is still present in the distance keeping the depth in the shot, the layered clouds have been enhanced well without making them look unnatural.


- Sanderscapes - Again very naturally edited, the clouds are not quite as prominent as they could be, but the colours have been kept very natural.


- RR - Nice and tight crop on the main focal point of the shot, the mono conversion and increased contrast adds tone and character. A real think outside the box attempt at the challenge.


- Tony-O - Slightly oversaturated making all the colours pop out almost making a dreary day look decent!


- Prieni - Almost looks HDR or heavily tone mapped, some of the details have lost some definition in the processing, but the colours are well balanced.


- MGraley - A very interesting idea turning this into a postcard style shot, the sepia tone adds warmth and an aged look to the shot.


- Dogpaws - Very heavily processed, looks to have added artificial film grain added - shot has character and a individual approach to the challenge.


- CraigF1969 - Well cropped, details in the layered clouds are well retained and the eye is drawn into the cranes in the distance.


- malo1961 - Nice crop and black and white conversion. Taking out the roof tops and trees distracting from the skyline.


- iceblinker - Nice, almost square crop showing the depth of the shot well. Tones and colours brought out well.


- epithet man - Extremely tight crop, not as much detail brought out due to the crop. Black and White done well.


- piotro - Natural edit with good control of shadows and highlights while retaining the depth to the shot.


- Anvh - Well executed idea on the shot, the sunset/sunrise effect works well and completely changes the mood.


And the results -

3rd Place - CraigF1969 - really liked the colours brought out in this version and the crop takes out the awkward positioned trees.

2nd Place - Anvh - great idea making this into a sunrise/sunset shot and was very close between this and RR's edit.

1st Place - RR - as soon as I saw this I thought it would be a hard one to follow, the crop is great and the processing really makes the image pop, great work.

This was extremely hard to choose a winner, all the edits were well executed - hopefully the feed back will be helpful and that everyone has enjoyed participating.

So I guess its over to RR to upload the next shot for RAW Challenge #3 (if you dont have anywhere to store the RAW file, send it on to me and I'll post it on my webserver where this one was held).

Brian.

Thanks Brian, I'll keep the ball rolling, so to speak & try & capture something tomorrow. I'll send it over to you if you don't mind as I do not have any file-hosting facilities at present. If you could PM me your email, that'd be great.

I think the judging format was better this time around, just a quick summary & the thumbs were a fine idea. So I'll do my best to duplicate that. (Open for any ideas to the format of course as this particular comp is in its infancy)

Bob

You could use the Gallery>Competitions section which would be much easier.

Looks a good idea John... is there a facility to upload the RAW file for adjustment in the competitions section? or will we still need to house the RAW externally?


p.s. I don't mind holding the RAW file for the competitions, but I will be removing them as the competitions close due to their file size and the fact I use the space for other projects!

Brian.

You would still need to store the RAW file somewhere, but the uploading of the competition entries would be much easier.

Nice work Brian and congratz to the winner, I'm the best loser it seems didn't thought it was good enough...

Also thanks for offering same digital space for us

Having some teething problems getting the file to Brian. Can anyone can suggest a free filehosting service with enough bandwidth allowance, in case Brian can't get hold of the file ?

You could try the one used for RAW Challenge #1:

https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/topic/Raw-Challenge-1-11377


http://www.savefile.com/

Ugly amount of advertising, but it did work.

Thanks Pete.. If it's not sorted when I return from work tomorrow evening, I'll sign up.

Could you try and upload direct to my web server Bob?

link to upload page

Just spent 10 mins creating an upload script, will only accept .PEF or .DNG files under 35mb.

edit.. this may not work! lol - if you have ftp access I can give you access to the pentaxuser folder if that would be easier?

Brian.

No joy Brian, PM sent.

Will definately be sorted this evening after work folks... apologies for the delay

Ok, I've got the raw for challenge 3 and its been uploaded to my webserver.

Bob - I'm sending you a PM with the link to the file so you can start the new competition.. are you going to start it in the Gallery>Competitions section as suggested by John?

Brian.

Gremlins all finally put to bed I hope & competition submitted, needs to be approved by a moderator before it will appear in the main Competitions section of the Gallery.

Show me your ideas & have a bit of fun.

Bob