[fgates]

Here is an image that i processed using Lightzone. It is very easy to use, I haven't even started with the advanced adjustments. Comments and criticism welcome. Also if you have any on Lightzone.

[Leezon]

the shot looks over exposed to me? More colour from the orange wall and the contrast could be adjusted to help maybe?

[silkstone]

It's not over-exposed as much as flat. If you look at the histogram there is nothing towards the right hand side - no whites - and the tones are all bunched up in the middle. In a conventional editor you'd alter the white point and apply an S-curve to increase contrast.

[Charlotte]

Agree with Silky.

I downloaded Lightzone, but haven't installed/used it yet

[fgates]

Thanks for the advice. Believe me this is less flat than the original. The weather was absolutely dreadful when we visited Tallinn.

I will give it a go later at improving it when I have some time. I find that there are too many things that you can adjust in most software and I haven't got time to go to learn the theory. It takes time by trial and error, so I really appreciate your comments.

[silkstone]

The most useful thing for tonal correction in most editors is the curves or histogram dialogue. It's really easy to use this - I'll be happy to do a quick tutorial if there isn't one already!

[fgates]

Rob has already written a good tutorial, but I think that there is still room for another explaining the curves in a different way. I have played around with the curves, but the results have generally been quite unnatural. Its a case of not knowing when to stop...

[fgates]

I tweaked the curves in Photoshop, is this better?

[silkstone]

Yes, that looks better to me - far more punchy.

[Charlotte]

Originally Posted by fgates

... Its a case of not knowing when to stop...

You've hit the nail on the head, Fred! I found this the most difficult thing to judge when I started learning image correction, + I still have a problem with it! It's so easy to just keep tweaking + tweaking, never satisfied with what you've done, until you suddenly realise that you've totally ruined a perfectly good shot + wasted 2 hours or more of your life doing so

Yes, your 2nd go is better, but could do with the brightness turning down, to benefit the sky

[jockwav]

Yep nicer now but a little bright for my own preferrences.
I have just d/loaded lightzone for the 30 day trial,do you think it is worth the money?.

[fgates]

I quite like the Lightzone interface, and thought it did a pretty good job with the lighting (compared with the original). It does not pretend to be a complete imaging solution, and the other jobs can easily be done in Photoshop. I am looking for alternatives to Photoshop because I am planning on switching over to Linux, and there is no Linux version of Photoshop. I tried also Bibble, which was more versatile, but I found the interface difficult to master.

[fgates]

Turned down the brightness and upped the contrast a little (above). I changed the image rather than upload a new one, sorry but it seemed sensible for such a minor edit. Thanks again Charlotte and Silky!