Day 3 - The Smiths

There are many different layers of post-ed to this photo. I wanted to brighten the original, but keep the dark areas close to the fire in order to contrast the flames against it. So, the first thing I did was a Bleach Bypass to brighten things up a bit and then cut away the bottom part to keep it dark. That's how you have to work with the Nik Collection, since the adjustments are global and applied to your image as it is displayed on you monitor, regardless of what layer you're on.

Next, I enhanced the fire with Contrast Color Range to get those marvelous fiery colors, and then cut away everything but it (the rest obviously got too wild). After that I hid the fire layer (since it was perfect), and did another contrast color range layer on the rest in order get it right. Then I reordered the fire-layer to put it on top and showed it again. After that, Detail Extractor and Skylight. Then I reduced the noise, sharpened and reduced the noise again. Two additional layers with a slight dark vignette (curves) to the right and top and I was done.

/MrsHjort