Gift of light

Gallery: LandscapePosted February 4, 2012328 views12 comments

I'm sure by now you all know I love cacti. So here is another I shot the other day that was a follow up to the incredible light show witnessed on the 1st of Feb. The light was ridiculously insane this evening. I've never seen mountains turn this red before and had to tone them down considerably during the processing and bring out the foreground elements more. The light in the next image (if you follow me on 500px you already know) was more insane than this, but I liked this scene enough to post first. As always, comments and critiques appreciated.

Canon 7d
Canon 17-40mm @17mm
ISO100
f/22
1/4 sec
3 stop grad ND filter
Tripod

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on February 4, 2012 at 7:51 PM

Peter, this is really nice. However, with the light and subjects the way they are, I would be really tempted to crop out the foremost Cholla completely and take a little off the left too, eliminating all but the perfectly balanced pano formed by the remaining Cacti, background light and sky. I'd also be tempted to dodge the background sky highlights just a little. As it is now my eye gets drawn out of the scene by the brightest areas in the lower right.

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

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on February 4, 2012 at 7:54 PM

Thank you Marc, I didn't even think of cropping it for a pano, but I will certainly give it a try. I did do some burning around the edges of the sky to put more emphasis on the mountain peak, but will go back and work on those highlights. The only thing I would be concerned with is the quality of the image after the crop, although it was shot at f/22, I was still pretty close to the foreground cholla. I will play around with it and put a pano version up for comparison.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on February 4, 2012 at 8:07 PM

Here is a pano version

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Rebecka on February 4, 2012 at 9:57 PM

This is insane! Both crops look great -- I might prefer the pano a touch more, but I like, no, make that LOVE, the original as posted, too.

There is a NEXT image?? Give me a day or two to recover from this one!

Congrats on a really memorable shot.

Registered on February 5, 2009, 170 Posts, 924 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on February 4, 2012 at 10:58 PM

Thanks Rebecca! I have a knack for putting things in the near foreground which is why I liked the original and posted it that way. The second image was a little more thought out and used some techniques I have began to learn to bring out the most.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Rebecka on February 5, 2012 at 2:31 AM

This gets my vote for the front page photo of NPN. I think I do like the pano better, after seeing it again.

Registered on February 5, 2009, 170 Posts, 924 Comments

Comment posted by David Edwards on February 5, 2012 at 3:44 AM

Sure is some great light there Peter. Love the warm glow throughout the image. I prefer the pano crop because I wasn't too keen on the balance of the original with the dark area in the left fg which left a bit of a hole there. Nice processing and colors.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 142 Posts, 2623 Comments

Comment posted by David Chauvin on February 5, 2012 at 5:48 AM

The two compositions each have a completely different look. Te first one definitely feels more threatening.

The light is fantastic but the shadows do look a little muddy to me. But not enough to keep me from enjoying the show.

Registered on August 5, 2004, 1007 Posts, 5595 Comments

Comment posted by Mario Moreno on February 5, 2012 at 9:02 AM

Superb landscape !! Love the detail in the foreground, overall colors and DOF. Maybe a touch underexposed but it could be my monitor. Thanks for sharing

Registered on January 24, 2012, 163 Posts, 369 Comments

Comment posted by Vance Gese on February 5, 2012 at 4:46 PM

Beautiful light and glow on the cacti and gorgeous color throughout. While the pano crop is nice, the original image with the glowing cacti in the foreground works very well in my opinion. Either way, an outstanding image.

Registered on November 13, 2008, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments

Comment posted by Jean Day on February 5, 2012 at 9:23 PM

What an incredible scene to witness with those deep, rich colors. The first post is great, but the pano adds more impact for me.

Registered on April 10, 2011, 36 Posts, 306 Comments

Comment posted by Angela Classen on February 6, 2012 at 10:13 PM

Initially I liked the original version better, but after going back & forth a bit - I think I prefer the pano after all as it eliminates the somewhat negative space in the LLC. Great light, I love the glowing cacti and mountain. I'll definitely watch for your next post to see even more "insane" light show.

Registered on June 13, 2007, 434 Posts, 2742 Comments