Processing an Image

Just for fun I thought I'd post a quick comment on how I processed an image I took at Rodin's Atelier in Meudon.

Image -

... and here's what I did to it: 

• Let the in-camera meter do its best
• Ricoh 55mm wide open at f/2.2  
• *click* the shutter 
• Opened RAW image in RawTherapee
• Applied my 0EV Digital Zone System curve
• Adjusted the ends of the curves for pure white and pure black
• Opened the image in the Gimp
• Back in RawTherapee, processed the sky for tonality and contrast
• Opened the sky processed image in the Gimp as a layer over the first image
• Gimp selected the sky of the first image
• Added a black mask to the second layered image
• Filled the selection area in the mask with pure white
• Adjusted the mask "sharpness" to Gauss soften with a 10 pixel radius
• Flattened the image and saved

Done.  That's it.  That's all it took to get these the way I wanted.

The trick, of course, was protecting the whites/highlights, then applying a correct Zone 3 thru 7 1EV step curve, and stripping in the sky.