Post Processing Challenge June 15, 2019

There are no rules as to how you apply your post processing to this image; but, please let us know what you have done so we can all learn.

If you would like to post a candidate image next week, please ensure it is of sufficiently high resolution for manipulation by the participants (3000px on the long side, 300dpi for example).

Most of all, let's have fun while we are learning or demonstrating how we use our post-processing software, imaginations and interpretations.

I didn't realize that I was living in a binary star solar system until I took this photo and the second sun revealed itself. You probably already know that it is a reflection between the (cheap) UV filter and the lens.

Let's see what type of solar system you are living in.

It's a magical photo (and the most creative use of an UV-filter that I've ever seen ;)).

I recently bought 10 good 2nd hand sci-fi novels and reading these re-kindled my latent interest in sci-fi. Over the last couple of months, I've been binging on (free) classic sci-fi e-books. So this photo and your question appeal to me!

Mike

I didn't realize that I was living in a binary star solar system until I took this photo and the second sun revealed itself. You probably already know that it is a reflection between the (cheap) UV filter and the lens.

 

Let's see what type of solar system you are living in.

[ATTACH=full]1299612[/ATTACH]

I’ve always had trouble with cloning and healing on images with smooth gradients, so I figured this would be the perfect image to practice on by eclipsing the binary sun. So, here goes:

1. In Lightroom I used a gradient to increase clarity and texture in the foreground
   
2. Also in Lr, I softened the clouds and sky (slight negative clarity), increased shadows, and reduced highlights; I also straightened the image very slightly
   
3. Then, in Photoshop, I duplicated the background layer twice
   
4. I moved the lower of the two layers (call it layer 2) over to the left so that the binary sun was offset
   
5. I attached a brightness adjustment layer to layer 2
   
6. I added a mask to the upper layer (layer 3), and used a medium soft brush to paint out the binary sun, making the offset layer 2 visible through the resulting hole in the sky
   
7. I adjusted the brightness of layer 2 so that the sky in the hole matched that around it—that did a reasonable job of matching the gradient
   
8. I added layer 4 to clean up a few places on the edge of the hole via cloning, using low flow so I could sneak up on it
   
9. Back in Lr, I did a bit more cloning to clean up the top of the cloud where the binary sun had been
   

Exposure: +0.5; Highlights: -100; Shadows: +32; Contrast: -91; Whites: +16; Blacks: -8; Vibrance: +13;

Tone Curve: Red 98/60%, Blue 97% (about one-third from upper left)

Here’s a second take, this time using my usual approach to sky gradients: a heck of a lot of low-flow cloning, making heavy use of the Ps clone source tool to change the angles of the clones, and then using a negative-clarity and reduced-sharpness adjustment brush back in Lr to try to compensate for uneven cloning. There are easier ways to do this…I just have to figure out what they are….

Strangest Twilight Ever? (Shout out to davidrosen's earlier blue version!) Maybe my version was caused by a Celestial Gloria Celebration for the St. Louis Blues Stanley Cup victory?

Summertime .... flowers ... everywhere ....

Great image. I went for a complementary color scheme. All work in GIMP. I tried Leslie method to clone out the extra sun. I need some practice. I the used a gradient map Green to Red.

Haha...If you can stand one more blue version, here's an abstract from Smart Photo Editor.

I went for a sci-fi look but unfortunately the delicate '2nd sun' hasn't come out at all in my sledgehammer-style PP. Better luck next time :)

Mike

PS (for the mods: the image modified and added to the original has been licensed by the author under CC0 (= public domain).