Light Force - Echo Canyon

Gallery: LandscapePosted December 2, 2010357 views15 comments

I thought of Star Trek and someone being beamed up on the transporter when I saw this pine being backlit. I may be dating myself! The wall were lit up and reflecting all kinds of light. I am only sorry that I didn't get a tighter composition of the tree, as the backlight was lost after composing this wide shot. I liked the colors and textures of the canyon walls initially, and I guess that is why I composed the scene this way.

Two exposures for shadows and highlights. I am wondering if my processing has rendered the middle canyon wall(near tree) too bright. I am trying stay away from an HDRish look, more natural, and while the exposure of the canyon could be increased, I was trying to keep the shadows and glows realistic.

Thanks

Canon 5D MarkII
polarizing filter
ISO 100, Canon 24 - 105L.

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by Guy Tal on December 2, 2010 at 9:10 AM

Excellent composition and great use of lines. I love it.

Guy

Registered on November 1, 2003, 566 Posts, 15507 Comments

Comment posted by John Mumaw on December 2, 2010 at 9:19 AM

What Guy said.
I think you did an outstanding job of 'developing' this image myself, although the glow on that wall may be a tad strong for a backlit scene.

Registered on September 9, 2005, 62 Posts, 2289 Comments

Comment posted by Gino Cortez on December 2, 2010 at 9:48 AM

The lines draw me straight through. I really like the color and the blending looks great!

Registered on November 23, 2010, 57 Posts, 396 Comments

Comment posted by Joel Hazelton on December 2, 2010 at 11:30 AM

Very unique image. All the layers in the BG with different qualities of light are really eye catching. Great capture

Registered on August 6, 2008, 194 Posts, 1315 Comments

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on December 2, 2010 at 11:51 AM

Ah, yes. I remember that tree. I spent an hour wading around in the water at the mouth of that little canyon several years ago trying to get the striations in the walls to line up and frame the tree in the light. Don't think I ever kept that shot though. I really enjoy the flow in this one, however. The way the walls grow progressively brighter/warmer leads the eye outward.

Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments

Comment posted by Floris van Breugel on December 2, 2010 at 12:56 PM

Gorgeous light and layers, Harry. While the image doesn't scream 'HDR' to me, I do find the textures to be too enhanced, kind of like abusing the clarity slider in ACR, or contrast enhancement through sharpening. I would find a way to reduce that microcontrast. Also, watch the bush in canyon -- looks like it was blowing around, the HDR software may have wreaked havoc on that bush. Best to manually blend exposures in cases like that IMO.

Registered on December 19, 2008, 306 Posts, 4840 Comments

Comment posted by Aaron Cowan on December 2, 2010 at 1:16 PM

Echo Canyon is a great little spot in Zion. I really like the warm light and especially the backlit pine. Nice PP on balancing the shadows and highlights too.

Registered on September 22, 2010, 8 Posts, 165 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Dayton on December 2, 2010 at 3:14 PM

Wonderful, Harry! There is so much here that I like. The
overlapping layers/patterns give a gread three dimensional
feel for me. The various colors are marvelous. The layers/
patterns form triangular shapes that are very appealing. My
only question/suggestion is that I'm wondering if the white
triangular shaped area in the UR corner could either be burned/
darkened or cloned out. Nevertheless, for such an outstanding
image that is hardly worth mentioning and perhaps is best left
alone.

Registered on November 11, 2008, 281 Posts, 3958 Comments

Comment posted by Luis Argerich on December 2, 2010 at 3:57 PM

Hi Harry,
I really like the display of colors and zig-zag lines in your photo, it's excellent!

Registered on December 22, 2009, 91 Posts, 1349 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on December 2, 2010 at 5:01 PM

Good job on handling the light contrast and still showing canyon detail, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on December 2, 2010 at 5:32 PM

Thanks everyone - Floris - I probably wasn't clear with my description - I manually blended 2 exposures (one for highlights and one for the canyon) I haven't tried HDR software-haven't found I need it for the shooting I currently do. I think the oversharpened effect has been the result of the normal sharpening I do for the web combined with, as you say, the micro contrast/detail in the image that has been magnified with sharpening. Definately worth remembering for future image - I will repost to see if looks different.

Thanks, Harry

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on December 2, 2010 at 8:51 PM

This is real nice, Harry. I like the different angles and shapes created by the rock. The white in the upper right--can't decide if it's sunlit or white rock--is just a minor attention-grabber.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on December 3, 2010 at 12:43 AM

Harry,

I would say that this is a beautifully envisioned and crafted image. There is great depth here and I really like all the diagonal lines. I'm not sure about the "micro-contrast," but along those lines the orange glow of the back wall just seems a bit over to me. Not by too much and of course without having seen this from my own eyes it's really hard to critique something like this. Here's a description that maybe will work - it's like too much "S" in a curves adj layer. That may or may not make sense to anyone...

No doubt though, this image should be treated the best it can be because it's a good one and worthy.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on December 3, 2010 at 9:17 AM

Tony - The upper right is a light colored wall. There was more of it originally, but I cropped most of it out because I thought it was too bright compared to the rest of the image. This was my compromise!

Lon - I will try adjusting as you suggested and see how it goes. Thanks.

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Smorra on December 7, 2010 at 1:39 AM

What an amazing place Harry. The lighting here is beautiful and I really like the textures on the rocks. The blending looks good to me.

Registered on November 2, 2009, 161 Posts, 2143 Comments