Photography takes a lifetime to learn, and even longer to master 
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What kind of graduated filter could be used in this example?
George
I would suggest starting with a 3 or 4 stop hard graduated filter, with the transition placed use at the top of the buildings.
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Photography is a game of two halves - the taking and the processing. Just as with film photography, you need to be competent in both to achieve the best results. How you take the picture often depends on how you plan on processing it and what your software is capable of e.g. I would be far more inclined to use higher ISOs with PL as a processor because I know I can use DeepPRIME to get rid of the noise - something I could not count on if I knew I was using lesser software.
The problem with most courses in digital photography is that they tend to use PS or Lr for processing, thus affecting how they teach to take photos in the first place. I, for one, would not dream of teaching concert photography at 10,000 ISO if I didnāt have DeepPRIME.
These forums are an ideal place to learn what it takes to take a photo in such a way that it will produce the best results in PL.
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The results you can get with difficult high ISO images using DeepPRIME is truly amazing. In my opinion, There is nothing like it available, and that includes Topaz Denoise 2.
Mark.
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Yes, it is truly amazing, what DeepPrime can do.
Out of curiosity I went back to a file taken with a Nikon D300S at 400 ISO, and I was sure to be fine with that ā just crazy, how DeepPrime can help.
Wolfgang
Itās as all crafst, first you need to have the wanted outcome in the mind, then tools and the kills in the hands to pull it out.
The best tools and skills are useless unles you āseeā the posibilities in making art or perfect images in this caseā¦
Most photos that I get to see, including many of my own, are not very good because the photographer didnāt have that āmental imageā of what he wanted. If all those poor photos were shot and edited perfectly, they would still be lousy photos. If the photographer can imagine what he wants in the final result, as I see it, that is the biggest thing. Better technique can make the image better technically, but itās much more important to have the right composition, viewpoint, and timing.
If I have the time to carefully set up and place the camera in what I feel is the best position, and wait for the best time to capture the image, Iām happy. If I donāt have the time, I usually cover a little more area than is needed, so I know I have the scene I want within my image, and with a little cropping Iām left with what was in my āimagionationā. (I donāt know the right word for this - sometimes I canāt get my image to look like what I was thinking of when I took the photo, and that, along with Deep Prime, allows me create the photo I was after.)
A technically perfect lousy photograph is still a lousy photograph.
A great photograph stands out regardless of the technical perfection, or not.
What I love so much about Ansel Adamsā photographs is that they have both, and I believe that was due much more to his darkroom technique, than his getting it ārightā in the camera. His negatives just needed to have the information he could later use to get the effect he was after.
Well, Ansel Adams got creativ and used the tools available at his time. 
What film did was , because it costet every shot money and you where depending on the filmdeveloping stores, you looked and searched more before you looked through the OVF.
Took some time to find composition, wavered the lens around to look at the exposure needle if it was not too much swinging aiming at the different objects in the frame. I had a old canon ft ql slr 1969 which had a aperture testswitch and a battery driven.
exposure needle.
Then check the split optic focusing .
Waited for a clean shot with less people on it as posibleā¦
Carefully presure the release, klak!.
Transport film. Repeat.
Now itās look, decide aperture number, zoom to aim frame, trust the dual IS2 image stabilisation, take some shots. Change aperture and framing and or focusing type, take some shots more.
Look where your family is walking and proceedā¦
And stil back then a holiday photo was delivered and placed in a photo book. Looked at it twice. Done, gathering dust in the cabinet.
Now i can watch them on the TV, re-edit if i like. Make some artistic fun edits on it.
The photofun is still high only the cost are less after the gear is bought.
And because the gear can help out on the spot you can be more open and focusing on surounding area. Do more types of images in less time.
The only thing what is still the same is: Mental viewpoint, artistic part, being in the right time on the right spot. And the best camera is the one you have with you at that moment.
Often i drive around(edit work related) and see interesting things but traveling on the highway itās difficult to stop take your camera and shoot.
(the first lockdown of covid (springtime) i took a camera bag with me at work and every time i was somewhere interesting i took a walk before i drove home.)
If the winter starts to be looking as winter i do this again. (small old bag carried g80 and 3 or 4 lenses. 12-60mm, 14-140mm , 100-300mm and 15mm prime.)
At this moment the weather is dull, wett, nasty greyisch.
Pretty much the same here - I only had so much film, so I didnāt want to waste it, or run out. I did my own developing and printing, and loaded my own film cassettes, so things didnāt cost as much as they might have.
Iām looking for, and framing photographs even when I donāt have my camera. I donāt think I āseeā what most people see - to me, I look for where I would put the āframeā to capture the essence of whatever Iām looking at.
One of these days, Iāll break down and buy some 35mm B&W film for my Leica M3. Iāll put my collapsible 50mm lens on it, and see what I can do. I do have a negative scanner, but if I get serious about this, Iāll buy a better one.
One more difference between then and now - I took maybe 60 images today, and got four that I like. I would take images just to test things, and see if I like the result. With film, I was less likely to do that, for the reasons you mentioned - $$$.
Hello Mike
Here is another possibility from your set:
Developed all images to TIF using Photolab 4 PRIME. Using Nik Collectionās HDR Efex Pro, merged all images while darkening the sky and illuminating the fore waters. Processed the HDR result using Color Efex Pro for a punchy effect. Finally, reduced noise, sharpened and resized using Nik Output Sharpener and another editor.
WOW!! Iām speechless.
Also wondering how you got those spectacular āstarā effects around so many of the lights?
If I do this again, Iāll go way up on the ISO, so I can then go way up on the shutter speed, so the boats will remain reasonably sharp. Maybe the water too.
I didnāt know those HDR tools existed? Maybe I can forget about Photomatix.
He probably used a lot of micro contrast among other things.
Mark
The initial development in Photolab used no microcontrast, just optical corrections; however a lens module was not found in the DxO library.
The stars were all there thanks to your lens aperture blades. They have been exaggerated by the HDR processing and by additional contrast tools in Color Efex - tonal contrast, contrast pro, color range contrast. More natural looking HDR is of course also possible.
I read about Photomatix, which I did not know: it has nice reviews, but it is not needed if you already have Nik Collection.
I like your idea about creating some fast shutter photos in the set, compensated using high ISO. You will have the option to use or discard those for the merge.
And if you count the āraysā and divide by two, you can tell that your aperture has 7 blades.
Itās a 1980ish lens, so DxO is unlikely to ever add it. If any of you have a Nikon, you can buy the same lens for $25 from KEH. Itās not supposed to be all that good a lens, but it actually is optically very good:
Read the story about Nikon and the E-series lenses linked to in the above review. I have owned it for years, but I donāt think I ever mounted it on a camera. Not even sure why I have it, but when I look at the images I got from it, Iām impressed.
What is the purpose of Lumenzia - and what is āluminosity blendingā?
I like the way the city looks, but the water is darker than I prefer.