winter sunset over Hotel Lakeside

The hotel is a stone's throw from the southern shore of Lake Erie in Lakeside, Ohio. When it was built, in 1875, it had no electricity and no running water. There was a two-story outhouse behind the hotel. It (the hotel) has been substantially updated and designated a National Historic Landmark. The hotel is only open seasonally, so it was closed when I took the photo in December of 2012.

Nikon Coolpix P7000, ISO 100, f/4, 1/270 second, noninterchangeable zoom lens at 6 mm (equivalent to 28 mm in a 35 mm film camera according to the metadata shown in Bridge)

processing

• exposures of -3, -2, -1, and +1 were done in Adobe Camera Raw and processed along with the actual exposure in Nix HDR Efex
• Topaz Simplify -- Watercolor II, partially masked to remove webbing (mostly the trees and some hotel detail)
• Alien Skin Snap Art -- saved Watercolor preset, Color blend mode, 69% opacity
• Photo Filter adjustment layer -- Warming 81
• Nik Color Efex -- Tonal Contrast, masked to mostly the hotel and sky
• Photo Filter adjustment layer -- Warming 81, masked (mostly to sky, hotel, and tops of railings)
• 6 black & white layers -- 2 each of Fractalius, Snap Art Stylize Line Art, and Simplify edges; all masked and at reduced opacity; one of each at Multiply and Divide blend modes
• gradient vignette

Dennis, this is an exceptional composition and crop , I love how the porch is framed to catch the sunrise/sunset scene. I like the post processing effect, especially how the water color effect works on the grass and trees/sky-for the most part. I'm on the fence with images that incorporate the prominent blotchy green/red hues which are strong on the posts. -personal taste I guess. This reminds me of a Bed and Breakfast brochure frame, or perhaps a menu background image if it were B&W/ greyscale.

I like how your processing has made the contrasts more natural. The r/g doesn't bother me too much. I took it in to PS and cropped the beam off in the left and like it better. Just a personal preference.

Dennis, I knew I was going to like this when I saw the thumbnail:S3: Great composition and I like how the eye travels through the image. I like Jackie's repost also.

Dennis- I ran out of time this morning. This may or may not be considered image butchery but here goes - finishing touch would be to go back and make all of the upright porch elements and canopy a neutral to cooler B&W tone similar to your original. Learning to work with masking on multiple layers. Jackies crop also works well, though I like the anchor post on the left, perhaps take some of that edge off (eliminate the light triangle at top left) and a little off the top? Dunno, it's such a strong central composition it may not matter much.

Dennis, I love the clean lines you achieve with your processing. If I interpret your workflow correctly, it appears that you achieve this through careful application of the 6 b&w layers. I like your framing that captures the soft colors of the distant sky.

Dennis, I like how you have captured the time of day, as well as the composition. My attention is drawn to the trees. The difference in luminance of the open sky and the sky behind the trees imparts a sense of foliage. Are you able to even out the luminance?

Randall, thank you. It's an entirely different look, but I like it. I'd played with cropping off some of the post on the left side but didn't want to lose any of the triangle. The idea does have merit, however. I wouldn't crop from the top because I try to avoid having converging lines at an edge.

Nancy, I think the Simplify treatment lays a good foundation for the lines. Six black & white layers is more than I'd normally do, but I didn't want the lines in this sky to be black. I could've just masked out the lines in the sky and had three b&w layers. However, I thought white lines would be good in the sky, so I duplicated the original layers (Multiply blend mode for black lines), inverted the masks and used Divide blend mode. The Simplify edges layer and the Snap Art Line Art layer are pretty straightforward -- just reduce the opacity to the right level when necessary (often not with Simplify but essentially always with Snap Art). It's the Fractalius layers that require more work. I usually generate three layers, each with a different amount of line coverage. Then, I have to decide which of those to use and at what opacities. After a while, it seems to become easier, but there's a lot of trial and error.

Quite interesting, I'm in love with the trees here, in all the reworks and original

I love the framing. I'm finding it--its details, shades and lines--more interesting than what it is framing. Very nicely done! I especially like the railing leading to the stairs. Next in interest is the street and the sky. The building is not so interesting to me. I wish this marvelous frame had something else to showcase. As always, beautiful work.