This image (the watercolor version) just won “Best in Show” at the Westchester Professional Photographers Association in our Quarterly Image Competition on Tuesday!

SundownersRestaurants and Homes on the bank of the Singapore River at sunset, Singapore. I walked out of the Asian Civilizations Museum and along the Singapore River. I saw this view of shops and restaurants along the bank, but it was kind of hazy, I was looking directly into the sun, and the colors were subdued. Normally I would have not taken out the camera, but I liked the scene and figured I would give it a try.

Watercolor SunsetRestaurants and Homes on the bank of the Singapore River at sunset, Singapore. As expected, it was a bit overexposed, hazy, and had subdued colors! In post-production I brought down the exposure overall, used a graduated filter to take down the sky even more, and increased contrast. The result was okay, but still missing something, so I pushed even further to make it look like a watercolor painting by using Topaz Simplify. I was very happy with the result. Which one do you prefer?