Bryce Canyon Sunrise

kdog · September 27, 2013

A few shots from a brief sunrise shoot at Bryce on my way home from Lake Powell last week. Comments welcome!

1

2

3

4

5

Thanks for looking.
-joel

bgarland · September 27, 2013

Awesome light you had to play with. The close up in #4 of the highlighted rocks almost looks like a lava flow. :-) 1 & 5 are my favorites.

Juano · September 27, 2013

Nice series, #1 is outstanding.

Stumblebum · September 27, 2013

Masterful! First one is so hard to get! Then I for one love the glitters of light running through the pictures and always go for it, rarely if ever have come even close to this!

Joyous!

ccrider · September 27, 2013

Nice pics. #1 is my favorite. Bryce is a unique place, lots of color to play with.

Cornflake · September 27, 2013

To be honest, the first one looks unreal to me. The third, however, is wonderful, and the second and fourth are also terrific.

anwmn1 · September 27, 2013

i am going to agree with Cornflake on #1. I think it is pushed just a little too far. There is some tell-tell HDR effects going on in the sky and there is a lack of natural feel of depth along the ridge at right frame. The colors just transition without a feel of real separation between the ridges. Maybe increase your shadows a bit??

Looks like you guys made the right decision to bounce up that way though. Great light at great locations.

kdog · September 28, 2013

bgarland wrote: »

Awesome light you had to play with. The close up in #4 of the highlighted rocks almost looks like a lava flow. :-) 1 & 5 are my favorites.

Thanks, Brad!

Juano wrote: »

Nice series, #1 is outstanding.

Thanks, Juano. Much appreciated.

Stumblebum wrote: »

Masterful! First one is so hard to get! Then I for one love the glitters of light running through the pictures and always go for it, rarely if ever have come even close to this!

Joyous!

Thanks, man.

ccrider wrote: »

Nice pics. #1 is my favorite. Bryce is a unique place, lots of color to play with.

Thanks, CC. I hadn't been there in years and it was great to get reaquainted with the area, albeit for a very brief visit.

Cornflake wrote: »

To be honest, the first one looks unreal to me. The third, however, is wonderful, and the second and fourth are also terrific.

Fair enough, thanks, Don.

anwmn1 wrote: »

i am going to agree with Cornflake on #1. I think it is pushed just a little too far. There is some tell-tell HDR effects going on in the sky and there is a lack of natural feel of depth along the ridge at right frame. The colors just transition without a feel of real separation between the ridges. Maybe increase your shadows a bit??

Looks like you guys made the right decision to bounce up that way though. Great light at great locations.

Aaron, #1 isn't an HDR at all, so there are certainly no HDR effects in the sky or anywhere else. It's a conventionally processed single frame processed mainly in LR mostly with a boost from the clarity slider and little more. I did some light dodge and burn and in PS, plus USM and Nik sharpening, and that's it. Honestly the PS finished version isn't significantly different from the LR original.

ian408 · September 28, 2013

Very nice.

anwmn1 · September 28, 2013

kdog wrote: »

Aaron, #1 isn't an HDR at all, so there are certainly no HDR effects in the sky or anywhere else. It's a conventionally processed single frame processed mainly in LR mostly with a boost from the clarity slider and little more. I did some light dodge and burn and in PS, plus USM and Nik sharpening, and that's it. Honestly the PS finished version isn't significantly different from the LR original.

Sent you a PM with specifics.

kdog · September 28, 2013

ian408 wrote: »

Very nice.

Thanks, Ian.

kdog · September 28, 2013

anwmn1 wrote: »

Sent you a PM with specifics.

Specifically answered.

The black wisps in the sky actually do exist in the original scene but are magnified by the local contrast enhancements I did to mitigate the effect of shooting into the sun. Might be worth dialing back, so thanks for the input.

Stumblebum · September 28, 2013

kdog wrote: »

Specifically answered.

The black wisps in the sky actually do exist in the original scene but are magnified by the local contrast enhancements I did to mitigate the effect of shooting into the sun. Might be worth dialing back, so thanks for the input.

Joel....my 2 cents....reduction in clarity slider would make it even better, perhaps bit more masking and bit lower on sharpening........the blue "luminisence" slider, if you increase it, it might cause things to become slightly hazy and less contrasty, but more "natural". Finally, maybe a touch of warming up the temp...

Not sure if any of it would enhance it, but after seeing the discussion and looking at the picture at home, this is what I thought I would do!

Cheers! No Flare staring at the Sun.....

kdog · September 28, 2013

Ok, here ya'll go. Reprocessed from scratch. Greatly reduced clarity applied ONLY to the foreground. Increased warmth a bit. Dialed back sharpening. See what you think.

Stumblebum · September 28, 2013

I love it!!

Would love to hear what others think! Great job as always!

Andy · September 28, 2013

You were super lucky to get those clouds! Well done, 'dog, well done

kdog · September 28, 2013

Stumblebum wrote: »

I love it!!

Would love to hear what others think! Great job as always!

Thanks for you input!

Andy wrote: »

You were super lucky to get those clouds! Well done, 'dog, well done

Thanks so much, Andy!

black mamba · September 28, 2013

I really like this series, Joel. Relative to the first image, I have a slight... and I mean SLIGHT... preference for the revised version. This is another of your fairly recent efforts that has real potential for being marketed.

Take care,

Tom

kdog · September 28, 2013

black mamba wrote: »

I really like this series, Joel. Relative to the first image, I have a slight... and I mean SLIGHT... preference for the revised version. This is another of your fairly recent efforts that has real potential for being marketed.

Take care,

Tom

Thanks very much for the generous comments, Tom. I always value your input.

LarryD · September 29, 2013

Great light, well done..

bryanj87 · September 29, 2013

Awesome light in these shots. My $.02, I prefer the edit.

Oso · October 3, 2013

1, 4 and 5 are great. The first version of 1 is fine and I bet your non photographer friends and family will love it.

Steve
Photos: http://stevehymon.smugmug.com
Blog: http://stevehymonphotos.blogspot.com

bristlecone · October 4, 2013

Nice Joel. I like the redo on shot #1. The light is fantastic on 3 & 4.

kdog · October 5, 2013

LarryD wrote: »

Great light, well done..

Thanks, Larry.

bryanj87 wrote: »

Awesome light in these shots. My $.02, I prefer the edit.

Thanks, Bryan. Good to see you back. Post some shots!

Oso wrote: »

1, 4 and 5 are great. The first version of 1 is fine and I bet your non photographer friends and family will love it.

Steve
Photos: http://stevehymon.smugmug.com
Blog: http://stevehymonphotos.blogspot.com

Thanks, Steve!

bristlecone wrote: »

Nice Joel. I like the redo on shot #1. The light is fantastic on 3 & 4.

Thanks, Len. I appreciate the feedback.

Nikolai · October 5, 2013

kdog wrote: »

Ok, here ya'll go. Reprocessed from scratch. Greatly reduced clarity applied ONLY to the foreground. Increased warmth a bit. Dialed back sharpening. See what you think.

Fantastic capture, Joel, as I have already told you. I so failed to get that crisp star...

Tango · October 23, 2013

I fell out of my chair. #1 is like holy freaking voodoo......

dlplumer · October 24, 2013

Awesome set, Joel