# Which Version do you prefer?



## 480sparky (Sep 30, 2012)

Just a quick little poll:  Which version of this image do you prefer?  (BE SURE TO VOTE IN THE POLL!)

A:   





 
(Full-size image can be seen here)




B:  







(Full-size image can be seen here)


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## snowbear (Sep 30, 2012)

The first one, except for the lighter-colored sky between the branches of the shrub.


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## jamesbjenkins (Sep 30, 2012)

snowbear said:


> The first one, except for the lighter-colored sky between the branches of the shrub.



Ditto.

The contrast in "A" is a lot better. "B" looks really flat.


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## Derrel (Sep 30, 2012)

jamesbjenkins said:


> snowbear said:
> 
> 
> > The first one, except for the lighter-colored sky between the branches of the shrub.
> ...



Diz-actly. Me three.


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## Heitz (Sep 30, 2012)

Where was this? I kinda expected that bush to be on fire and to see a dude with a long beard holding two stone tablets


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## 480sparky (Sep 30, 2012)

Heitz said:


> Where was this? I kinda expected that bush to be on fire and to see a dude with a long beard holding two stone tablets




Guernsey State Park in eastern Wyoming.


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## 480sparky (Oct 2, 2012)

Bump.


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## COLTSFANATIC1 (Oct 2, 2012)

I like - A


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## jon25 (Oct 2, 2012)

I also agree with A because the colors are richer and it brings out more in the picture. Well in my opinion.. 

Either way its a great picture! :thumbup:


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## KenC (Oct 2, 2012)

Voted for A (like everyone else, I see!).  I'd crop the top a little to get rid of the branches in the center and right.  That bit of sky does look a little funny, as mentioned.


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## Derrel (Oct 2, 2012)

THIS POLL is like, "Soooo, which would you prefer on a hot day: A, a cold, frosty mug of root beer?  Or B) An empty pop can with some sand in the bottom of it?


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## 480sparky (Oct 2, 2012)

Derrel said:


> THIS POLL is like, "Soooo, which would you prefer on a hot day: A, a cold, frosty mug of root beer?  Or B) An empty pop can with some sand in the bottom of it?



This poll has an ulterior motive.  I'm just keeping my powder dry until more folks have a chance to vote. Then all will be revealed.


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## snowbear (Oct 2, 2012)

480sparky said:


> This poll has an ulterior motive.  I'm just keeping my powder dry until more folks have a chance to vote. Then all will be revealed.


I feel a "gotcha" or "whammie" coming on!


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## cgipson1 (Oct 2, 2012)

There isn't a "C" option... and I feel it should be somewhere in between... (which should actually be the "B" option... not the "C")


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## 480sparky (Oct 2, 2012)

snowbear said:


> 480sparky said:
> 
> 
> > This poll has an ulterior motive.  I'm just keeping my powder dry until more folks have a chance to vote. Then all will be revealed.
> ...



Yep.  And I feel some folks are gonna be upset as well.........


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## Derrel (Oct 2, 2012)

snowbear said:


> 480sparky said:
> 
> 
> > This poll has an ulterior motive.  I'm just keeping my powder dry until more folks have a chance to vote. Then all will be revealed.
> ...



Uh-ohhh...I'm pretty sure I know what's in store for us...pre-baked and "store-bought" versus "from scratch:...cough,cough...


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## snowbear (Oct 2, 2012)

Oooooooo - I think I know, or at least one thing.


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## 480sparky (Oct 2, 2012)

Derrel said:


> Uh-ohhh...I'm pretty sure I know what's in store for us...pre-baked and "store-bought" versus "from scratch:...cough,cough...




Thanks for reminding me............... I still have one more brownie out in the kitchen.  Better woof it down before it gets stale and dry!


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## Derrel (Oct 2, 2012)

Speaking of brownies...I have been buying Pillsbury fudge brownie mix, and baking it in a Silpat brand silicone muffin pan...so, instead of one pan full of brownies that must be cut up, I instead get 12 nice brownie "muffins"...Mmmm...delish...here's an iPhone snap of what they look like. I prefer THIS version of brownies!!!! MUFFIN BROWNIES!!!!


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## snowbear (Oct 2, 2012)

Nice.  I have some vanilla ice cream churning away at the moment.  I might have to run across the street for some brownie mix!


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## 480sparky (Oct 2, 2012)

Derrel said:


> Speaking of brownies...I have been buying Pillsbury fudge brownie mix, and baking it in a Silpat brand silicone muffin pan...so, instead of one pan full of brownies that must be cut up, I instead get 12 nice brownie "muffins"...Mmmm...delish...here's an iPhone snap of what they look like. I prefer THIS version of brownies!!!! MUFFIN BROWNIES!!!!



Mine are made from scratch using cooked pudding. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




   And best of all, I didn't have to make them or clean up the mess (although I still have some chocolate cake and chocolate-chip cookies I made last week...........)

And Silpat, for those of you who have never heard of it, is a Godsend to bakers.





snowbear said:


> Nice.  I have some vanilla ice cream churning  away at the moment.  I might have to run across the street for some  brownie mix!



Home-made ice cream is all I ever eat.  Haven't gotten store-bought for years.

















Damn! Now I'm REALLY hungry!


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## mjhoward (Oct 2, 2012)

So nothin' on the "gotcha" yet?


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## ezoliver (Oct 2, 2012)

I knew I recognized those steps as soon as I saw them...  my first thought was that looks like the castle at Guernsey lake!

Very cool to see some of my old stomping grounds on here.  I grew up near Fort Laramie, about ten miles from where those pictures were taken.

Oh and I like picture A better...


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## 480sparky (Oct 2, 2012)

ezoliver said:


> I knew I recognized those steps as soon as I saw them...  my first thought was that looks like the castle at Guernsey lake!
> 
> Very cool to see some of my old stomping grounds on here.  I grew up near Fort Laramie, about ten miles from where those pictures were taken.
> 
> Oh and I like picture A better...



Nope.  Not the Castle.  Brimmer Point.


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## 480sparky (Oct 2, 2012)

mjhoward said:


> So nothin' on the "gotcha" yet?



I thought I'd let the poll go for a week before letting the cat out of the bag. After all, not everyone logs in every day.


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## ezoliver (Oct 2, 2012)

480sparky said:


> ezoliver said:
> 
> 
> > I knew I recognized those steps as soon as I saw them...  my first thought was that looks like the castle at Guernsey lake!
> ...



Oh shoot you are correct.  The castle has a different look.  Got them mixed up.  Guess I need to visit again, been at least 5 years now.


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## 480sparky (Oct 2, 2012)

ezoliver said:


> Oh shoot you are correct.  The castle has a different look.  Got them mixed up.



The Castle:










ezoliver said:


> Guess I need to visit again, been at least 5 years now.




Don't get too exited.  They had a big fire recently, and everything west of the lake is pretty much toast (pun intended).






The Castle was closed when I was there last month.  Major bummer.


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## 480sparky (Oct 4, 2012)

One more  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




.


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## ronlane (Oct 4, 2012)

480sparky said:


> One more
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Is on the edge of my seat to find out the gotcha from this. Come on Sparky, isn't 30 votes enough to let us in on it?


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## Judobreaker (Oct 4, 2012)

That's it, I give up...
I can't find anything other than the rocks you shopped (and of course the obvious color/contrast corrections and sharpening).


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## snowbear (Oct 4, 2012)

Are you going to make this a guessing game, like the ubermacros?


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## jake337 (Oct 4, 2012)

480sparky said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > THIS POLL is like, "Soooo, which would you prefer on a hot day: A, a cold, frosty mug of root beer?  Or B) An empty pop can with some sand in the bottom of it?
> ...



Waiting patiently....

I A just a tone-mapped version of B?


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## 480sparky (Oct 4, 2012)

Well, since it seems everyone likes A (at the time I posted this, it's 26-0), I'll let the cat out of the bag.

A is a simple, edited raw file.  Slight contrast increase ('S' in curve), saturation boosted a bit, a minor high-pass focus and the blue sky darkened (it was shot early in the morning, and the sky was hazy from distant forest fires).

B is the best SOOC JPEG version I could muster.






So......... for all those in the 'get-it-right-in-the-camera' camp....... you'd still be happy with version B now?  And how many who voted are ardent 'get-it-right-in-the-camera' adherents?


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## snowbear (Oct 4, 2012)

Nice.  I was thinking it was somehow related to the white balance settings (auto for #1, manual for #2).


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## 480sparky (Oct 4, 2012)

snowbear said:


> Nice.  I was thinking it was somehow related to the white balance settings (auto for #1, manual for #2).




That's because in order to create the in-camera JPEG, I applied manual settings and converted the raw file in-camera.


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## Aloicious (Oct 4, 2012)

480sparky said:


> So......... for all those in the 'get-it-right-in-the-camera' camp....... you'd still be happy with version B now?  And how many who voted are ardent 'get-it-right-in-the-camera' adherents?



nice...I always run with raw files myself....but personally I've always felt the 'get-it-right-in-the-camera' camp was more about getting correct exposure, leveled, composed, WB, etc in the camera, to minimize the amount of editing that was required, regardless of file format...y'know, to use the best practices and improve shooting skills rather than shooting haphazardly and having a 'I can fix it in PS' mindset......perhaps I'm mistaken on that, but that's how I always understood the term 'get it right in camera'

every image requires some level of editing regardless of how well exposed and composed, and just like you've demonstrated, I would rather trust myself to do those adjustments rather than trusting an automatic function for the results I wish to get. 

so to answer your question, I voted for A, but I really don't know what camp I belong to. I would say maybe the 'get it right in camera, while shooting raw, and doing my own editing and adjustments' camp?


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## 480sparky (Oct 4, 2012)

Aloicious said:


> .........so to answer your question, I voted for A, but I really don't know what camp I belong to. I would say maybe the 'get it right in camera, while shooting raw, and doing my own editing and adjustments' camp?




Perhaps you're more like me.... the "get-in-as-_good-as-the-limits-of-the-camera-will-allow-me-to-get-it_ and know-I-can-iimprove-that-in-post".


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## mjhoward (Oct 4, 2012)

480sparky said:


> So......... for all those in the 'get-it-right-in-the-camera' camp....... you'd still be happy with version B now?



I don't think that's generally what's meant by getting it right in camera.  What you're describing could be done as a batch job on every photo shot that day with a few simple clicks.  NOT getting it right in camera may require layers, dodging and burning, etc, which is something that can't be done as a batch across all files. NOT getting it right in camera may also include inconsistent exposures and WB from file to file, also making it impossible to do as a batch job.  The only difference between your A and B is that your desktop processor edited the RAW data rather than your camera processor.


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## 480sparky (Oct 4, 2012)

mjhoward said:


> 480sparky said:
> 
> 
> > So......... for all those in the 'get-it-right-in-the-camera' camp....... you'd still be happy with version B now?
> ...




Maybe I'm dumb or something, but "get-it-right-in-the-camera" means (to me) not doing any editing in post.  Use only the controls built into the camera... Sharpness, contrast, saturation, WB, etc.  Accept the JPEG the camera gives you.  Don't adjust any curves or levels, saturation, contrast, etc in your computer.  Just resize it if need be, maybe crop it and straighten it out.


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## snowbear (Oct 4, 2012)

I guess I'm the "get-it-as-close-as-I-possibly-can-and-edit-what's-needed" and the "I-can't-edit-junk-into-a-masterpiece" camps.


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## EliseLeveque (Oct 8, 2012)

Voting for A, colours and contrast make it "jump out" more.


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