Almost Heaven

Gallery: LandscapePosted September 26, 2011354 views11 comments

This shot was taken in 2007 from North Fork mountain in West Virginia on one of the most beautiful evenings I have ever experienced anywhere. About an hour before sunset the sun began to break through the low clouds with a spectacular light show of which this is only a fleeting part. As you can see it is technically flawed as the area around the sun is irrevocably blown-out. This is a 3-shot combination taken as jpegs (the only bracketing option on the R1) and I was still new to the process and didn't capture enough detail in the shortest exposure. That said though it was obviously very bright around the sun and even a perfect exposure (which I did manage in some other shots)wouldn't have been a whole lot better and anyway I wanted to post this as is and see what others may think of the overall image.

comments welcome

Sony R1, 16mm, f/8@200

thanks for looking and please check out the larger version

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Neale Dyster on September 26, 2011 at 6:13 PM

Wow! Amazing scene you witnessed there. Straight off I think I'd lose a bit of the sky, it stands out as being especially blank because of the full on drama happening lower down. I guess being a jpg file is going to severely limit your other processing options. Hopefully someone with greater expertise than me will have some useful suggestions for you. Thanks for sharing though, what a moment!

Registered on February 19, 2008, 94 Posts, 738 Comments

Comment posted by John Mumaw on September 26, 2011 at 6:51 PM

A remarkably good image somewhat spoiled by the less than optimum processing.
The blue clouds changing abruptly into greenish and the sun's rays beaming greenish are indicative of this.
Perhaps blending those exposures by hand might produce a better result?

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

Comment posted by Cam Held on September 26, 2011 at 7:51 PM

Amazing photo but I agree that careful control of the blending could improve it. The blown out sun doesn't even bother me as much as the changing cloud color. But, what a moment, and you did a good job capturing it!

-Cam

Registered on November 12, 2009, 59 Posts, 398 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on September 26, 2011 at 8:19 PM

I'm with the others. This could be a VERY remarkable photo but it is in need of very careful (and likely a bit difficult) processing.

Registered on June 19, 2009, 276 Posts, 6240 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Pelton on September 26, 2011 at 8:34 PM

yes, there may be some technical imperfections, but the strength of the composition and the light show make this a very strong image IMO.

Registered on November 25, 2003, 380 Posts, 4647 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on September 26, 2011 at 9:28 PM

Dramatic image. I agree that a crop down to the spot where the sun is coming through the clouds. The colors in the trees are great.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Dean Sauskojus on September 27, 2011 at 2:39 AM

Robert, why not crop out the blown out area of the sun and some of the sky. It would end up being more of a 4x5 ratio horizontal but I think it looks pretty good. Anyway this is some spectacular light and probably a once in a lifetime experience. Beautiful capture.

Registered on September 29, 2009, 137 Posts, 2659 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on September 27, 2011 at 1:41 PM

As others have pointed out, the blues (especially in the clouds) are a bit off but the light and color on the trees is exceptional. Bet it made your heart ache to stand and witness this. It is truly a spectacular scene.

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Stough on September 27, 2011 at 4:56 PM

Thanks for all the comments. They are greatly appreciated. As you might imagine I have spent a lot of time working on this image and although I think I have at least managed to capture some of the drama of the scene I have never been totally satisfied with it. The main problem of course is the jpeg originals with their narrow DR and embedded color profile. The excessive blues in particular were a frequent problem with the R1 jpegs. Anyway in this version I've adjusted the white balance and tint somewhat and I think I may be getting a little closer to reality.

Registered on November 20, 2010, 26 Posts, 273 Comments

Comment posted by John Mumaw on September 27, 2011 at 7:58 PM

Less saturated, but the problems remain the same. Are you using software to combine these images?

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

Comment posted by Robert Stough on September 28, 2011 at 5:26 AM

I used Photomatix to merge the 3 exposures, however I do not use that program at anywhere near it's default values. In particular I reduce the saturation and edge-contrast settings to a bare minimum and produce a very flat and dull-looking file that I then import to Lightroom.

Registered on November 20, 2010, 26 Posts, 273 Comments