geography - stumped

[SmartWombat]

Shot this from 28000ft through airplane window.
So it needs a lot of work to recover the colour/contrast.
But it's beyond me, I really don't know where to start.
Any help appreciated.

[jorgemonkey]

Here is my quick take. I just did auto color balance & this popped out. It still has the normal airplane window color scheme though.

[SmartWombat]

It still has the normal airplane window color scheme though.

Yeah, that's my problem.
I don't think the automated tools can do this.
My adjustments are a little more subtle than yours but similar.
Want to try on the original unadjusted image?

[drg]

Here are a couple of more 'fixes'. Both done from your second version and not the original.

The first has some masked tweaking of curves and simple sharpening.
The second has been just color balanced and filter sharpened.

I may try one from the original later because I'm working with a new software tool.

[GB1]

Looks like a classical contrast problem here Paul. All that atmospheric haze will do that. Bumping up contrast will solve a lot.

I like the edits and feel D's first (top) edit is the best, though there is a strange texture to the water (but looks like it's in the original too). I did a slightly further mod on that, bumping up the sat a bit and adding a slight vignette to darken those upper corners so that they would better balance with the darker lower corners. here it be. not sure it's good enough to be a final edit, but at least it looks less 'through the window.'

G

[Medley]

Convert to Lab
Levels adjustment (individual channels L:17/.77/201,a:110/1.00/145,b:90/1.00/145)
Convert to RGB

Definitely not an ending point, but not a bad starting point either. Not sure what the dark areas are about. They seemed to be on the original?

- Joe U.

[GB1]

Just noticed this...

[SmartWombat]

Convert to Lab
Levels adjustment (individual channels L:17/.77/201,a:110/1.00/145,b:90/1.00/145)
Convert to RGB

Ah, I've never understood LAB and how it affects the image, but that is a good version.

The marks are dust inside the supposedly sealed lens/sensor unit.
No way to get them out.
Out of warranty by a few months, bought in the USA anyhow, so no UK warranty - never tried to claim.
I heard many users have had this issue, and it's been fixed under warranty (damn) by replacing the lens/sensor unit - presumablythe replacement has better seals.
That G9 has really dented my faith in Canon, because my Panasonic LZ5 which is a couple of years older and used to live in the same jacket and trouser pockets has no such problem.
It's the reason I haven't replaced it with a G10.

[readingr]

Paul,

No clue how to fix it and never understood lab either, but curious as to which river this is?

Roger

[SmartWombat]

No idea which river, or even which state.
The flight was delayed, the navigation/film displays were all broken.
Best I can guess is a southern state, bordering the gulf.
We were heading towards DFW and it was on the left
So my best guess would be Mississippi/Louisiana/Alabama.

[jetrim]

Hey Paul, just stumbled across this thread but I took a shot anyway...
Here's the workflow in Corel PaintShopPro X2

# 1 SmartPhotoFix
'BlackPoint': 1,
'WhitePoint': 99,
'Highlights': 10,
'Brightness': 29,
'Shadows': -60,
'Saturation': 33,
'Sharpness': 91,
'PointList': [],
'GeneralSettings': {

#2 Clarify
'Strength': 20,

# 3 ColorBalance
'OriginalTemperature': 6711,
'OriginalTint': 0,
'DesiredTemperature': 4955,
'DesiredTint': 1,

# 4 PhotoLooks
'FilmAndFilters'
'Density': 10,
'Color': (255,218,173),
'Film look': App.Constants.PhotoLookEffect.VibrantFoliage,

# 5 Color Adjust Brightness Contrast
'Contrast': 58

# 6 HighPassSharpen
BlendMode.SoftLight,
'Strength': 81,
'Radius': 35,

# 7 Dodge
'Size': 102,
'Hardness': 0,
'Step': 10,
'Density': 100,
'Thickness': 100,
'Rotation': 0,
'Opacity': 20,

# 8 SoftenBrush
'Size': 19,
'Hardness': 30,
'Step': 10,
'Density': 100,
'Thickness': 100,
'Rotation': 0,
'Opacity': 82,

# 9 LightenDarken
'Size': 78,
'Hardness': 21,
'Step': 10,
'Density': 100,
'Thickness': 100,
'Rotation': 0,

I did have to compress it an additional 25% to get it on the forum here.