Another chance with the magnificent M8 RAW files of Central Park!

I have uploaded Steve Teitelebaum's extraordinary images taken with his M8 Leica digital camera.

These RAW files are eye openers and really should be not missed. They are provided once more fulfilling a request for Ed Bussa, so while the files are available, take this opportunity to explore the wonderful potential of these unusual, robust and georgeous images.



Am I too lavish?

I am, as you may have noticed, somewhat opinionated so perhaps you might, at first, discount all this praise for 4 images, as we all have marvelous images too!

Still, just check out here and you will see it's worth downloading. Just send me a PM and I'll get you the 4 RAW files tocheck out and see what you can do yourself!

Now, the truth, am I exagerating, or not?

Asher

Post here or with the original thread?

Also, what is the preferred color space?

Leaf Spring

Image processed in Bibble using the default settings I use on files from my Pentax K10D. Somehow, it seems like these files process faster in Bibble than the files from the K10D...

Further, there is a boost in global saturation and a decrease in global contrast.

Also, some help from two Sean Puckett (Nexi) plug-ins, Sharpie and Sadie.

I implemented some luminance blurring with Sharpie and desaturated the midtones with Sadie.









A little closer look:




Any other Bibble users out there?

So Ed,

What do you think of these files?

asher

Asher Kelman said:

So Ed,

What do you think of these files?

asher

Click to expand...

I think I'm just getting started!

I don't consider myself experienced with raw files but they do seem very flexible.

Also, like I mentioned, Bibble seems to be able to consume them a little easier/faster.

It feels freeing to begin with 1) a fine product 2) a product not your own.

I think you'll find you have several extra stops to work with!

Asher

Beauty and Power

Again, basic processing in Bibble. This time Sean Puckett's Siggy exposure control helped me shape the highlights, midtone and shadows as well as alter contrast. This image was difficult to get bright enough without blowing this or that because of the overcast day.

Ultimately, I turned on the Black and White Plug-in just to play and selected the Red-Blue Maximum option and for me, the image came to life.

Leaf Spring

I thought of a new title - "Fall Springs, NY" !

My version...

Asher Kelman said:

I have uploaded Steve Teitelebaum's extraordinary images taken with his M8 Leica digital camera.

Click to expand...

Thanks, Asher for the images, as well as the original author, to whom the copyright belongs to.

Of all the images, I only felt drawn to one, which had the dynamics I was looking for.

There is plenty of low, mid and high spatial frequencies on the original scene, there is a nice tonal "gradient", there is a mix of natural-vs-artificial ingredients, with water and all, including floating objects, buildings on the background, micro-pedestrians on the distance, deep shadows, etc.

My intention was to emphasize on such dynamics, but in a rather fluid way: starting from the top-background (buildings) and progressively coming down to the bottom-foreground, or viceversa, so the viewer could entertain his eyes with the richness of elements, etc. And, for this, the tonal adjustments had to somehow encourage and such "sweeping" of the image, so to speak. And for that, I intentionally left some brightness on the sky, just the necessary to contrast with the foreground-water body.

Additionally, I tried to give the image a bit more character, achieve proper shadows color-balance and density, some neutrality on the clouds, boost chroma response and then spatial response, in a highly non-linear fashion (those color-rich elements boost less than those dull, and same with sharpening).

All process perfomed with "real-time" tools, no manual construction of masks, layers, etc. All automated, except for micro-tuning of opacity of intermediate layers:



The cam+lens performed well, and this file was opened with Lightroom v1.0. The original, ProPhotoRGB image has clearly better color rendition of clouds and high-saturation foliage. Some of its lost on the last conversion step to sRGB.

Enjoy!