Fire in a Berg Sky

Gallery: LandscapePosted June 4, 2012237 views12 comments

I finally managed to process an image from our recent foray into the Central Drakensberg region. This is a colourful sunset I was able to photograph one afternoon. On the left you can see Champagne Castle and Cathkin Peak. The Ukhahlamba/Drakensberg mountains is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

This is a blend of 2 exposures to tame the dynamic range and better represent what I saw taking place in front of me.

Techs:
Nikon D3s with Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 @ 14mm
f22 | ISO-100

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Raymond Klassen on June 4, 2012 at 5:19 PM

Lovely sky and depth to the image. Might just be me, but the yellows and oranges in the sky seem a bit oversaturated for my liking.

Registered on November 30, 2008, 114 Posts, 790 Comments

Comment posted by Tom Hilton on June 4, 2012 at 7:05 PM

Wow, great capture and processing...
nice use of the 14-24.. I like the look

Registered on September 19, 2011, 68 Posts, 668 Comments

Comment posted by Joerg Bonner on June 4, 2012 at 7:16 PM

that sunset sky is beautiful!! i agree with raymond about the yellows in the sky - they seem a bit out of bounds.

Registered on September 5, 2011, 44 Posts, 221 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on June 4, 2012 at 9:41 PM

Very dramatic image with that spray of clouds. The yellow maybe seem a bit saturated, but it works OK here in the context of the rest of the the sky.

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

Comment posted by Morris McClung on June 4, 2012 at 11:17 PM

Ditto Tony, but this is still fairly marvelous.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by Marsel van Oosten on June 5, 2012 at 9:16 AM

I like everything, except the sky - too oversaturated, not only the yellows. Make it a bit less thermonuclear and you got a great image.

Registered on March 9, 2004, 285 Posts, 2277 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on June 5, 2012 at 12:53 PM

Can't add anything to what's been said--great comp, get rid of the radioactivity and call it a winner.

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on June 5, 2012 at 3:46 PM

Okay, the masses have spoken

I did increase saturation a bit in the sky since the image just lacked that "oomph" and I remember the scene as being vivid.
Here's a toned down sky (reds and yellows desat). Your thoughts?

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Ezra Schultz on June 5, 2012 at 4:08 PM

Not sure whether it's a problem of saturation as others have mentioned or a matter of brightness and contrast, either way, it's an outstanding image. Very dramatic!!!.....Izzy

Registered on July 31, 2004, 30 Posts, 114 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Turner on June 5, 2012 at 5:21 PM

Great processing on this fine landscape.

Registered on February 18, 2012, 534 Posts, 2755 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on June 5, 2012 at 6:07 PM

Really a wonderful scene, Morkel. I like the repost very much.