Inyo Mountains

bristlecone

Towering cumulus over the Inyo Mountains from the Alabama Hills. Didn't have much time as we just got settled in Lone Pine. Drove up to the hills as the sun was going behind Mt. Whitney.

C&C always welcome. 6D, 24-105, 1000 @ f11, iso 100

ritewinger

Beautiful photo. I used to spend a lot of time in the Owens valley, all sides of Bishop area and this a fine reminder of how much I miss the west.....Well done!!

kdog

Very nice, Leonard. Great sky, beautiful area.

JC

The exposure is perfect, no way your camera told you that with this scene. How did you capture this?

bristlecone

kolibri wrote: »

The exposure is perfect, no way your camera told you that with this scene. How did you capture this?

This image is one of 3 bracketed. My intention was hdr, but after processing them I decided it (hdr) didn't look natural enough, so I went with this single image. It is a slight underexposure of the clouds. Most of the processing was done with ACR, with some dodging (Photoshop) of the center (folded, sunlit portion). There was also a rather prominent blue haze region all along the region where the foreground rocks meet the mtns. This was removed (diminished) with a selection and de-saturation of the color blue.

I have to say, this camera body (6D) is new to me, along with full frame, but it seems to truly have a powerful ability to capture shadow areas. The foreground rocks were quite dark, yet when boosted, they still look natural. If you want, I can post the original capture for comparison. I did not document the processing steps, but will attempt to re-create if requests are made.

Cornflake

It's an excellent composition and I like the result, with two qualifiers. The foreground looked unnaturally light to me when I first looked at the image in relation to the rest of the scene. I'd find it more credible if you took it back down some. The image also seems a little sharpish to me, but that may be an isolated reaction.

I'm a fan of your photos, this one included.

Earache

Cornflake wrote: »

It's an excellent composition and I like the result, with two qualifiers. The foreground looked unnaturally light to me when I first looked at the image in relation to the rest of the scene. I'd find it more credible if you took it back down some. The image also seems a little sharpish to me, but that may be an isolated reaction.

I'm a fan of your photos, this one included.

Dittos.....

The echo of the rock shapes in the clouds is nice too.

Stumblebum

Based on comments above, I too sense bit of over-sharpnessl. Also foreground is probably the way it was, but if it was darkened slightly probably it would add a layer and make rest of the picture pop more. I personally like streaks of light and dark when some light penetrates and only lights some portion up or cloud shadows that hit some area, I really love those.....and not sure if evening it out is needed.

Love Alabama hills, even though I only drive by them on my way to Whitney Portal.......

Cornflake

I realize I wasn't very precise. Part of what helps to create the illusion of depth in a landscape photo is that distant, background objects are seldom as sharp as what is in the foreground, because the atmosphere isn't entirely transparent. Here, everything in the background is very sharp. The foreground doesn't seem too sharp to me--just the edges in the background, including the clouds. I wouldn't sharpen the entire photo less, I'd just sharpen the photo more selectively. And tastes vary, so you may see it differently.

bristlecone

Cornflake wrote: »

I realize I wasn't very precise. Part of what helps to create the illusion of depth in a landscape photo is that distant, background objects are seldom as sharp as what is in the foreground, because the atmosphere isn't entirely transparent. Here, everything in the background is very sharp. The foreground doesn't seem too sharp to me--just the edges in the background, including the clouds. I wouldn't sharpen the entire photo less, I'd just sharpen the photo more selectively. And tastes vary, so you may see it differently.

Thanks Don, I appreciate your comments, and they make sense. I am forever trying to get everything sharp and in focus. Maybe I need to tack my thinking toward your suggestion..... my subject in this image was the very large and striking clouds. Believe me, they were very sharp and clear this particular day, but I do understand your comments. This image was sharpened with the "high pass" method, 1.2 radius, but with the layer (filter) in linear light instead of overlay.

I'm also not sure that I create the jpeg properly: after finishing the .tiff, I simply re-size, re-sample and make the jpeg max. Any thoughts on that?

Again, thanks for your comments, and everyone else too - I need them all.

Cornflake

You're welcome. We all need criticism and help, although some don't realize it. And keep in mind that I don't know anything.

bristlecone

Stumblebum wrote: »

Based on comments above, I too sense bit of over-sharpnessl. Also foreground is probably the way it was, but if it was darkened slightly probably it would add a layer and make rest of the picture pop more. I personally like streaks of light and dark when some light penetrates and only lights some portion up or cloud shadows that hit some area, I really love those.....and not sure if evening it out is needed.

Love Alabama hills, even though I only drive by them on my way to Whitney Portal.......

I agree Stumblebum, I think I've trying to get everything in focus, and bright, that I've forgotten the artistic factor (probably the most important of them all).

-Thanks

Stumblebum

bristlecone wrote: »

Thanks Don, I appreciate your comments, and they make sense. I am forever trying to get everything sharp and in focus. Maybe I need to tack my thinking toward your suggestion..... my subject in this image was the very large and striking clouds. Believe me, they were very sharp and clear this particular day, but I do understand your comments. This image was sharpened with the "high pass" method, 1.2 radius, but with the layer (filter) in linear light instead of overlay.

I'm also not sure that I create the jpeg properly: after finishing the .tiff, I simply re-size, re-sample and make the jpeg max. Any thoughts on that?

Again, thanks for your comments, and everyone else too - I need them all.

Hi Leonard, I too fall in the trap of trying to get everything to be sharp. Most of the time it works, but sometimes the other option is better.

I believe if you used f8 or bigger aperture, and placed the AF on foreground, it would soften the distant mountains just enough, while keeping foreground sharp! Great shot nonetheless!

bristlecone

Stumblebum wrote: »

Hi Leonard, I too fall in the trap of trying to get everything to be sharp. Most of the time it works, but sometimes the other option is better.

I believe if you used f8 or bigger aperture, and placed the AF on foreground, it would soften the distant mountains just enough, while keeping foreground sharp! Great shot nonetheless!

Regarding the soft focusing of the distant hills and clouds.... I must say, no way! They are the primary subject in this image. Sorry, it's just not my style. Sharp focus is always a goal with me. Probably should have gone to f/13 here to maybe capture the foreground rocks even more. Hyper-focus (manual) used here with the attempt to get everything. Just came up a little short.

Here is a modified version of my original posting with some darkening of foreground and less sharpening.

Cornflake

I think it's a big improvement, Len, over what was already a terrific photo.

Earache

^^^ Once again, I agree with Don!

Stumblebum

I love it more as well! Especially since the light is penetrating the clouds and hitting the big hills randomly! It is amazing how we all probably started out striving for maximum sharpening but with little bit less it just feels more beautiful and natural!! Now I keep opening it over and over again....! Great job!