Fix blotching in sunset image?

[saustinp]

Hi all,

Newbie here. I'm working on editing this HDR image of a sunset and encountered a bit of an issue with the merged image. You can see that near the sun, the colors do not change gradually and the region around the sun is a single blotch of color. I'm not sure if there's a technical term for this, but I usually see it when images/monitors with low color resolution try to resolve a color gradient. I am editing in 32 bit RAW, ACR mode, and the HDR is comprised of three exposures with an EV of +/- 1. Any tips on this? I was thinking about using the blend tool to smooth the transition, but that would also mess up the cloud that's running horizontally above the sun. Thanks!

 

[chrisdesign]

Your detail image shows that you've overdone "Saturation". The result is manly visible in the blue channel.
To demonstrate I post a "before version", and an "after version" of the blue channel that I I've done with curves and gaussian blur.
The after version shows how the original image could have possibly looked like just out of your camera .

before



after


This is the result after applying curves and gaussian blur.

I guess the best thing to do is to go back to your RAW image, and try again.

 

[JeffK]

Excellent catch and insight by @chrisdesign. Recreated that myself to see what he was pointing to. Quite a revelation.
I played with this as well and decided to go another direction - using the lookup table adjustment, I added a late sunset filter. That added to the shot overall giving it a more dramatic look. Then using the cloning tool, did some additional blending around the sun. So, in effect, didn't rid the image of the blotchiness, just now hidden.
I realize the colors have shifted from your original shot - but it might be an alternative.
- Jeff