Edit Me an Image #68 - Frozen

Continuing the image editing thread, 68rd 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 May 20. As always, you can vote during the entire contest plus one day after the image submission deadline.

The photo:
Frozen

It's a very high contrast scene and I chose to freeze the water with a short exposure time. I think it will be interesting to see what options will be chosen to balance the whole image, or other personal perspectives.🙂

Looking forward to your edits.

Here's the jpg:

And the RAW file (RW2) can be found: here

Brought up shadows, corrected verticals, unfroze water, removed people on the very right.

Attempt #2 - waterfall only

Here's my take. I opened up the shadowy areas areas a bit, but tried to maintain a certain level of local contrast to preserve the naturally dynamic look. I was also inclined to preserve most of the original scene with just a minimal crop for better balance between the groups of people on either side of the river. A very nice shot. processed with Lightroom...

I think it's constructive to give you all a hint: The image contains a small trap.😀

For me, the extreme distortion of the image was the most irritating part of it. I did the best that I could to get rid of it, but you can clearly see that the people on the left are stretched like you get with an UWA lens and the trees on the left are still bowed unnaturally. Perhaps someone with better PP chops can create a more natural treatment than I have been able to.

Attempt #2

The distortion didn't really bother me all that much initially, but here's another try with some distortion correction in the mix (just Lightroom still) and a couple other tweaks. This results in the central area appearing a bit farther away, but it looks more natural to my eye.

In the eyes of Van Gogh

I decided to try going the other way and embrace the dislocation. This is the result of applying a radial blur (both this and the previous image were done with Affinity.)

First attempt, DXO Filmpack's Soft Focus preset, then some level adjustments, especially for waterfall.

DXO Color Efex filters applied

Today is the last day to post edits, and tomorrow is the last day to vote.🙂