Foray into Darktable

[DrEntropy]

A couple "happy snaps" purposely for playing in Darktable, disparity between shadow and highlight areas. By no means tweaked to the software's capabilities, I'm not deft enuff with it yet. Didn't do much with color balance, just fooling with pulling out shadow detail. Last shot, used GIMP to better balance the color.

 

[GregW]

Give the "Tone Equalizer" a try. You'll find it in the "base" group. Once there, choose the advanced tab. That gives you a graphic EQ. Raising or lowering any of the dots on the graph loads the histogram. At that point, you can see the EV values as you move the mouse over the image. So hovering over the fence would tell you what part of the graph to adjust. Takes the guesswork out of if.

 

[DrEntropy]

Will have a go tomorrow. Just got done with a "war of wits" with neighbor's '08 Altima rear rotors 'n pads. Rotors rusted onto hubs, to the point where t'was necessary to soak joints and studs with Weasel Pee and torch, then apply the BFH with gusto. But we won. New cross-drilled rotors and new pads.

 

[Basil]

In that second shot it looks like you increases the shadows but did you also decrease the highlights or do anything with vibrance or saturation? I only ask because the area at the upper left (leaves or dried grass?) looks decidedly more brown in the second image.

 

[DrEntropy]

Actually I fussed with color balance to bring in more red, the leaves approximate more realistically the color they are in "real life" in the second shot. Along with the marble tabletop the potted plants sit on.