Post Processing Challenge

I'm a newcomer to digital post-processing, and really need to
get the hang of curve adjustments, saturation, cropping etc.

A bit like the "Shoot In", perhaps there could be a "post
processing challenge" where one original is made available and
people can try and make the best of it. For example, I've tried
various crops and contrast/saturation/sharpness edits on a shot,
and came up with this:

http://www.pbase.com/k_j_tough/image/43692731

I'm just using an LCD monitor, and nothing is calibrated and I
don't do anything with color spaces, so I can't imagine it looks
reasonable everywhere. The shot was taken just before sunset,
and sorry no WB reference.

Anyone want to take a stab? Here's the original:
www.objectech.co.uk/ken/ppc/DSC_0001.NEF

I assert my rights to the image (and derivatives). For what it's worth.
--
Ken Tough

Ken Tough napisa³(a):
Anyone want to take a stab? Here's the original:
www.objectech.co.uk/ken/ppc/DSC_0001.NEF

I assert my rights to the image (and derivatives). For what it's worth.

My FF has shown that the files is only 1.9mb? something wrong or...?

Ken:
The NEF file is coming across as a TIF download.
Is the original NEF not available, or did you already convert to the TIF
format?
Bob

"Ken Tough" wrote in message
...

I'm a newcomer to digital post-processing, and really need to
get the hang of curve adjustments, saturation, cropping etc.

A bit like the "Shoot In", perhaps there could be a "post
processing challenge" where one original is made available and
people can try and make the best of it. For example, I've tried
various crops and contrast/saturation/sharpness edits on a shot,
and came up with this:

http://www.pbase.com/k_j_tough/image/43692731

I'm just using an LCD monitor, and nothing is calibrated and I
don't do anything with color spaces, so I can't imagine it looks
reasonable everywhere. The shot was taken just before sunset,
and sorry no WB reference.

Anyone want to take a stab? Here's the original:
www.objectech.co.uk/ken/ppc/DSC_0001.NEF

I assert my rights to the image (and derivatives). For what it's worth.
--
Ken Tough

Ken:
As mentioned, the file must be corrupt. PSCS won't complete the opening
of the TIF, indicating an "unexpected end of file indicator" was
encountered.
Bob

"Robert Brace" wrote in message
news:yR2ke.1442348$Xk.177547@pd7tw3no...
Ken:
The NEF file is coming across as a TIF download.
Is the original NEF not available, or did you already convert to the
TIF
format?
Bob

"Ken Tough" wrote in message
...

I'm a newcomer to digital post-processing, and really need to
get the hang of curve adjustments, saturation, cropping etc.

A bit like the "Shoot In", perhaps there could be a "post
processing challenge" where one original is made available and
people can try and make the best of it. For example, I've tried
various crops and contrast/saturation/sharpness edits on a shot,
and came up with this:

http://www.pbase.com/k_j_tough/image/43692731

I'm just using an LCD monitor, and nothing is calibrated and I
don't do anything with color spaces, so I can't imagine it looks
reasonable everywhere. The shot was taken just before sunset,
and sorry no WB reference.

Anyone want to take a stab? Here's the original:
www.objectech.co.uk/ken/ppc/DSC_0001.NEF

I assert my rights to the image (and derivatives). For what it's worth.
--
Ken Tough

Ed:
You're probably right, I hadn't thought of that. That would account for
the small size shown in the PSCS browser as well. How would one get at the
"full file" then. I actually went to the site indicated in the URL and
accessed the file directly -- still showing as as a TIF.
If the full NEF were zipped into a ZIP file, that would make things
simpler (provided the NEF wasn't corrupt).
Bob

"Ed Ruf" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 22 May 2005 16:57:02 GMT, in rec.photo.digital "Robert Brace"
wrote:

The NEF file is coming across as a TIF download.

That's probably the imbedded thumbnail you are detecting.
----------
Ed Ruf Lifetime AMA# 344007 )
See images taken with my CP-990/5700 & D70 at
http://edwardgruf.com/Digital_Photog...ral/index.html

There is a challenge of that type at www.curvemeister.com

"Ken Tough" wrote in message
...

I'm a newcomer to digital post-processing, and really need to
get the hang of curve adjustments, saturation, cropping etc.

A bit like the "Shoot In", perhaps there could be a "post
processing challenge" where one original is made available and
people can try and make the best of it. For example, I've tried
various crops and contrast/saturation/sharpness edits on a shot,
and came up with this:

http://www.pbase.com/k_j_tough/image/43692731

I'm just using an LCD monitor, and nothing is calibrated and I
don't do anything with color spaces, so I can't imagine it looks
reasonable everywhere. The shot was taken just before sunset,
and sorry no WB reference.

Anyone want to take a stab? Here's the original:
www.objectech.co.uk/ken/ppc/DSC_0001.NEF

I assert my rights to the image (and derivatives). For what it's worth.
--
Ken Tough

In article rZ2ke.1444989$8l.1020857@pd7tw1no,
Robert Brace wrote:
Ken:
As mentioned, the file must be corrupt. PSCS won't complete the opening
of the TIF, indicating an "unexpected end of file indicator" was
encountered.

And "dcraw" converts about the top 1/4 of the image, and then
fails.

And the contrast seems quite low in the part which is visible.
(Though xv will look at the JPEG thumbnail in the front, and it suggests
that there is more contrast down in the area which I can't see.

And note that the unix "file" command on Solaris identifies all
..NEF files as "TIFF file, big-endian". The TIFF format is used as a
wrapper around the RAW data, allowing for the embedding of a .jpg
thumbnail and the EXIF data.

FWIW -- I note that the camera is at the 1.02 version -- a
couple of flash ROM upgrades behind.

As for using a LCD monitor -- it can be quite good, depending on
your system.

My Sun ULTRA-2 needs for me to reset the gamma from the default
(for CRTs) to 1.0, and after that, a bit of tweaking of brightness and
contrast with a web-based grayscale for the purpose, and things are
quite nice.

Some systems might adjust the gamma automatically, if they
detect a LCD monitor -- and others may have no way to adjust it at all.
My earlier framebuffer (SunSpeak for graphics card) had no adjustment,
and looked rather washed out with most images.

Good Luck,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

DoN. Nichols wrote:

In article rZ2ke.1444989$8l.1020857@pd7tw1no,
Robert Brace wrote:

Ken:
As mentioned, the file must be corrupt. PSCS won't complete the opening
of the TIF, indicating an "unexpected end of file indicator" was
encountered.


And "dcraw" converts about the top 1/4 of the image, and then
fails.


Same with irfanview. With an interesting bayer pattern effect where it dies:

http://www.edgehill.net/incomplete-nef-700-percent.jpg
700% enlarged crop, upper brown is the low contrast image


--
Paul Furman
http://www.edgehill.net/1
san francisco native plants

In article ,
Paul Furman wrote:


DoN. Nichols wrote:

In article rZ2ke.1444989$8l.1020857@pd7tw1no,
Robert Brace wrote:

Ken:
As mentioned, the file must be corrupt. PSCS won't complete the opening
of the TIF, indicating an "unexpected end of file indicator" was
encountered.


And "dcraw" converts about the top 1/4 of the image, and then
fails.


Same with irfanview. With an interesting bayer pattern effect where it dies:

http://www.edgehill.net/incomplete-nef-700-percent.jpg
700% enlarged crop, upper brown is the low contrast image

O.K. I hadn't zoomed in to check out that. It is just at the
upper left-hand corner of the missing area?

And -- I also see diagonal brown lines (actually magenta, brown,
yellow in detail) with similar patterns in them running from lower-left
to upper right through the rest of the missing area. Do you see that,
too? Or is your Irfanview showing something different for the rest of
the image? (It would not be unexpected for the programs to treat
missing areas differently, as they may use slightly different
algorithms.)

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

DoN. Nichols wrote:

In article ,
Paul Furman wrote:


And "dcraw" converts about the top 1/4 of the image, and then
fails.


Same with irfanview. With an interesting bayer pattern effect where it dies:

http://www.edgehill.net/incomplete-nef-700-percent.jpg
700% enlarged crop, upper brown is the low contrast image


O.K. I hadn't zoomed in to check out that. It is just at the
upper left-hand corner of the missing area?


Yes it's a fairly small area at the left edge. Most of the blank part is
that off-white.



And -- I also see diagonal brown lines (actually magenta, brown,
yellow in detail) with similar patterns in them running from lower-left
to upper right through the rest of the missing area. Do you see that,
too? Or is your Irfanview showing something different for the rest of
the image?


Not sure. I don't think I see anything but the checkerboard fading off.


(It would not be unexpected for the programs to treat
missing areas differently, as they may use slightly different
algorithms.)

Enjoy,
DoN.


--
Paul Furman
http://www.edgehill.net/1
san francisco native plants