Hōlei Sea Arch, before it fell

How it was made

1. 1

   Opened up the tones

   Lifted the clouds toward white with a curve that rolls off before the sky's blue clips, and pulled texture out of the dark lava ledges.

   2 tool calls

   1. Adjusted the color and light· Tone curve

      add_adjustment · points 6 points · type curves

   2. Adjusted the color and light· Lava texture

      add_adjustment · compress 60 · radius 60 · shadows 22 · type shadows_highlights
2. 2

   A touch of color

   Light vibrance on the shrubs and water. A stronger setting clipped the sky's blue channel, so the histogram kept it subtle.

   1 tool call

   1. Adjusted the color and light· Vibrance

      add_adjustment · type vibrance · vibrance 15
3. 3

   Made the arch the star

   Cropped in so the arch sits on the left third with light showing through the opening, then sharpened gently, tuned so the lava cracks don't crush to black.

   3 tool calls

   1. Cropped the photo· to 2520 x 1680

      crop · height 1680 · left 310 · top 1212 · width 2520

   2. Adjusted the color and light· Light sharpen

      add_adjustment · amount 0.3 · radius 1.2 · threshold 0.02 · type sharpen

   3. Cropped the photo· to 1800 x 1200

      crop · height 1200 · left 290 · top 288 · width 1800

6 steps in one conversation with Claude.