Shenandoah in the Fall

nazquel

A few from my trip in October... guess its a good way to end the Fall season!

This was shot in a patch of similarly sized trees. The sun shined warmly through the yellowed leaves:

<center><a href="http://www.navinsarmaphotography.com/Places/North-America/USA/11482450_VFKPQ#1125357557_TuJWP-A-LB&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://www.navinsarmaphotography.com/Places/North-America/USA/Shenandoah-02234tonemapped/1125357557_TuJWP-XL.jpg&quot; alt="Sun through the trees, Shenandoah" title="Sun through the trees, Shenandoah" /></a>
<span style="color: #3f8a9a;">1 - Sun through the trees, Shenandoah </span></center>

Here's a slightly different angle -- to highlight the height of the trees and the window they formed to the blue sky:

<center><a href="http://www.navinsarmaphotography.com/Places/North-America/USA/11482450_VFKPQ#1125413264_G2N46-A-LB&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://www.navinsarmaphotography.com/Places/North-America/USA/Shenandoah-0401tonemapped/1125413264_G2N46-XL.jpg&quot; alt="Sun through the trees, Shenandoah" title="Sun through the trees, Shenandoah" /></a>
<span style="color: #3f8a9a;">2 - Sun through the trees, Shenandoah</span></center>

As dusk neared, the sun flattened its light and provided a more calm look to the mountains. The sun peeked in from the right, shining through from the group of yellow trees on the right to the orange trees on the left, and casting subtle blue shadows in the hills in the distance. In the foreground shadow, the greenish sedimentary rock and the colorful brush helped to neatly frame my eye to the scene:

<center><a href="http://www.navinsarmaphotography.com/Places/North-America/USA/11482450_VFKPQ#1121166420_WKFxC-A-LB&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://www.navinsarmaphotography.com/Places/North-America/USA/Shenandoah-15321tonemapped/1121166420_WKFxC-XL.jpg&quot; alt="A rock, the trees, and the Shenandoah Valley" title="A rock, the trees, and the Shenandoah Valley" /></a>
<span style="color: #3f8a9a;">3 - A rock, the trees, and the Shenandoah Valley</span></center>

As the sun began to set, the light shone through the trees in the distance. I thought it was really cool to see the amber light illuminate the trees and the about 9 layers of hills in the shot:

<center><a href="http://www.navinsarmaphotography.com/Places/North-America/USA/11482450_VFKPQ#1121163903_dF4JY-A-LB&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://www.navinsarmaphotography.com/Places/North-America/USA/Shenandoah-19456tonemapped/1121163903_dF4JY-XL.jpg&quot; alt="Amber light illuminating the trees of the Shenandoah mountains" title="Amber light illuminating the trees of the Shenandoah mountains" /></a>
<span style="color: #3f8a9a;">4 - Amber light illuminating the trees of the Shenandoah mountains</span></center>

I was able to switch lenses quickly to catch this next close-up of the sun. It was really gorgeous to see it quickly slipping on to the other side of the world, turning the horizon orange, magenta, purple, and blue as it wrestled with the colors of the mountains. It was also cool to see the several layers and depth of the hills:

<center><a href="http://www.navinsarmaphotography.com/Places/North-America/USA/11482450_VFKPQ#1125413709_wDLJa-A-LB&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://www.navinsarmaphotography.com/Places/North-America/USA/Shenandoah-256/1125413709_wDLJa-XL.jpg&quot; alt="Shenandoah sunset" title="Shenandoah Sunset" /></a>
<span style="color: #3f8a9a;">5 - Shenandoah sunset</span></center>

C&C requested... still working through my HDR workflow and I feel like some of my shots are washed out... perhaps I need a few more exposures?

If youd like to see more please click my blog below.

Thanks,

Navin

schmoo

I don't like HDR in general but your'e doing a great job with them! Getting a lot of good dynamic range without doing HDR for the sake of HDR. The last two in particular really scream out to me, although for two very different reasons. One is so beautifully subtle and simple and the other is bold. Nice work and it looks like a great trip.

Blackwood

Beautiful. I particularly like the last two. I'm a sucker for cascading ridgelines like that.

Doug Solis

I love your first and last images. this first has such beautiful color saturation and gives you the feeling you are standing in the middle of those trees. the last is really a beautifully layered image, I'm wondering if you cropped from the top down (almost half of the sky) and eliminate the blown out area of the sky if it is not a stronger image. see what you think.

nazquel

thanks for the comments everyone!

schmoo - my only real point in doing HDR is that i do feel like it can reflect what the eyes see rather than one exposure only. i try to keep it as subtle as possible so that it remains realistic... but i think it still needs some work and im considering trying other ways of blending exposures.

doug - thanks for the suggestion!! i'll try that and let you know how it goes.

kdog

Excellent set of images, Navin. Shooting into the sun is where HDR really pays off. That last one is just killer.

nazquel

thanks kdog

actually the last was only one exposure

kdog

nazquel wrote: »

thanks kdog

actually the last was only one exposure

Doesn't surprise me. The sun was pretty diffused by that point. I was more referring to first couple where you're shooting almost straight up into the sun, and still have blue sky.