Edit me an Image #65 - Sun Blasted

Continuing the image editing thread, 65th issue.

General rules:

♦ Anyone (except author of original image) can edit the presented image, up to three distinct edits in separate posts are permitted.
♦ All edits must be based on original image, not on another people's edits (of course borrowing ideas would not be a problem).
♦ Short explanations about your editing intentions and/or techniques are encouraged, but not required.

Once the deadline for images has been reached, no new image versions will be accepted. Questions and (polite) discussions of techniques are welcome, so that we can learn from one another how certain edits were achieved.
The edited version gathering most likes wins and its author will start next round, unless they would prefer to pass the torch to someone else.
On the closing day for voting, if there is a draw in the number of likes for two or more edits, then the person that posted the original image will decide the winner from the the photos receiving the most votes.

Editing rules:

♦ All "normal" adjustments (brightness, colours, curves etc) are permitted (both local and global ones).
♦ All geometric adjustments (perspective, cropping etc) are permitted.
♦ Artistic effects (brushes, textures etc) are allowed.
♦ No additions or replacements may be made to the main subject matter of the image; non-essential objects may be removed, and parts of the original image can be "moved" to a different position in the image.
♦ Generative AI must not be used.

Timing:
Get your images posted by April 23rd. As always, you can vote during the entire contest plus one day after the image submission deadline.

The photo:

Just testing a new lens (at the time) in a ridiculously high dynamic range scene (your naked eyes would fry looking at it for more than a second or two - really bright). The original scene was significantly more colorful and dynamic looking than what you see in the jpeg. The important highlights are intact in the RAW file.

Here's the jpeg:

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And a link to the RAW:
www.dropbox.com/t/C65yVfzKdIKh0dKE

Nice image !!
Here's an edit from the RAW to show the great dynamic in that original scene.
Also corrected some pink colour fringing in the high contrast speckle on the water's surface.

The image demonstrates that you have a very good camera, the optics used are also very good, as is the location chosen for testing.👍😀

Excuuuse us ...

Topaz Buzsim + other adjustments

My attempt
DXO and Nik Color Efex filters

Second attempt

Testing DXO Film pack, this is from Fuji Superia Reala 100 rendering

Today (4/23) is the last day to get your edits posted (by midnight Eastern Standard time in the U.S.). Voting tomorrow (4/24).

GIMP Filters>Distorts>Shift (after Crop/Resize) - then Color>Brightness/Contrast then Filters>Enhance>USM

Please, somebody break the tie. Hopefully I won’t have to pick a winner when I get up in the morning…

Congratulations Fireplace33, you win the million bucks! Well, actually, you get to come up with the next image to mess with...

Very well done. Your edit looks bright and natural and not at all crunchy, which is generally my preference. You also avoided blowing out the sky behind the tree branches (no blue haloes) which is also a big plus. Not the easiest sort of scene to work with, but as the original scene was extraordinarily bright, the resulting image should be as well (IMO), and yours is.

I also liked Stormyboy's creative rendering - a more dynamic looking effort (and more like the original scene in that respect), but the blue borders around the tree branches are a bit distracting and, well, it's not exactly natural looking.

This is my original edit, dynamically somewhere in between the two, and about as close the original scene as I could manage with a regular SD display. When I eventually get an HDR display, images like this will be the first I'll want to play with using the expanded available highlight brightness.

Thanks to everyone for the millions dollars, or at least for all the votes ;-)
I'll start the next challenge fairly soon :-)