Hells Kitchen
by MAK

Comment by LaMas:
Beautifully creative. You really went above and beyond with your attempt to get "out there". I give you props for taking the chance with this one and really utilizing the editing. I gotta make it a fav, just because it's completely unique. Keep pushing the envelope. Sorry you didn't place higher.

Hells Kitchen
by MAK

Comment by graphicfunk:
Marac: this an outstanding study. Congratulations on your top Five finish.

Hells Kitchen
by MAK

Comment by MAK:
because so many asked I will list the PP here. I have already put it in the photographers notes but it does not stand out enough i guess so here goes...

Open with photoshop
applied lucisarts filter in EXPOSURE MODE around 4-6 @ 50%
dodged and burned to taste
used curves to balance the black and white tones
hue/saturation adjusted the yellow lightness to get rid of orangey skin tone and played with other colours until satisfied

resized.
noise ninja wipe over
add border
submitted.

That is basically all that was done. some photos work well with the filter and some simply look terrible you have to pick the right one. I tend to shoot with tonemapping in mind now, might be a bad thing but it's a style I personally like and enjoy doing. Every shot is different, the filter will have a different effect to it. You will ALWAYS need to do other work in photoshop to clean the image up after doing lucisarts or even photomatix filters. For DPC I hardly spend much time cleaning them up and with the limited editing rules it can be hard to make a perfect image, however, I am building my website at the moment with FULLY edited shots in this style and for those interested please keep an eye on my profile because when I finally finish the website I will be posting a link to it there and might post in the forums also.

I hope that this was helpfull to those who want to try it out for themself. Thank you for asking.

Hells Kitchen
by MAK

Comment by citymars:

Originally posted by MAK: ... the fact that this shot received 5 X 1s to me, does not show a simple dislike of the cartoon editing but more of an attempt to lower the end result thus known as TROLLING. A vote of 1 should be issued to a shot that is 160x160 pixels totally void of any connection to the challenge without any focus whatsoever. ... etc.

MAK, I hope there aren't people who intentionally vote low when they recognize a style ("trolling")... and I certainly hope there aren't five! I think it's more likely that people saw something they hated, or thought they should hate: the presence of food, the presence of humor, the presence of a style of post-processing they don't like... who knows?

I agree with you completely about the kind of photo that deserves a 1, by the way. It looks like a lot of good photographers have to suffer idiot voters. C'est la vie dp, apparently!

Hells Kitchen
by MAK

Comment by dleach:
I agree with your comment about trolls... but can you also add some comments on your processing steps and how you did this photo? Very nice.

Hells Kitchen
by MAK

Comment by Bosborne:
I thought this should have been the Blue! Great idea and photo!

Hells Kitchen
by MAK

Comment by GinaRothfels:
Seems you underestimated yourself badly on this one. It's great. If it were up to me it would have ribboned.

Hells Kitchen
by MAK

Comment by CalliopeKel:
Geez, look at all those 1's!! People are assholes. This should have ribboned.

Hells Kitchen
by MAK

Comment by h2:
Congrats on your 5th, this was my top pick, great job!

Hells Kitchen
by MAK

Comment by JeniY:
Yeah....I love this!! It is Most Excellent!!!!