Mono magic

Gallery: LandscapePosted July 1, 2012429 views22 comments

Yeah I know I said I wasn't going to post another mono lake image for a while, but this one I promise will be my last for a while. It took my a very long time to process this to get it to where I want it, and even then I'm not sure if this justifies the sight I took in. This is a five image panoramic shooting horizontal frames. I couldn't get the cloud in one frame, and even with the pano the cloud was still too large. I did quite a bit of blending here to retain the colors and detail in the tufa formations. The colors were surreal, like those I've always seen in the images of this place. It seemed to all come together for this one night and still, I think I missed the shot I could have had. Always a reason to return though and hope I'm fortunate to have the same or better conditions. As usual, comments and critiques appreciated.

Canon 7d
Canon 17-40mm @17mm
ISO 100
f22
1 sec
tripod

Comments

22 comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on July 1, 2012 at 7:39 AM

Sweet light and the reflections are great. I am going to be in this area next September and I just may have to reroute myself a little so I can go by Mono Lake. Fine image.

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

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on July 1, 2012 at 9:32 AM

Great colors, this place must be amazing. For me, this one could be a bit brighter but it works great as is.

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

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on July 1, 2012 at 10:36 AM

Some luscious light here. The distortion is mildly distracting, but otherwise I like it. Simple but very effective.

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

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on July 1, 2012 at 11:43 AM

Really nice, Peter. A dramatic look and feel. I like the light and color with wonderful reflections. Nice work!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Joseph Campisi on July 1, 2012 at 12:40 PM

That light must have been something to behold in person Peter! I agree about making it just a tad bit brighter, but it's probably more dramatic this way, and still works for me as is. I've really enjoyed your series of images from here!

Registered on November 24, 2008, 304 Posts, 3211 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on July 1, 2012 at 1:15 PM

Thanks everyone. My concern with going brighter is the highlights would look a bit blown which is what took some time to control during processing. Marc, I agree with the distortion, I just don't know how to quite go about fixing that. Any suggestions?

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

Comment posted by John Williams on July 1, 2012 at 2:01 PM

Magnificent sky Peter, and the comp backs it up nicely. The cloud filling the upper left works very well.

For the distortion, you can use a program that lets you change the projection mode and horizon like PTAssembler, or the Warp tool in Photoshop once the images are stitched.

Registered on September 6, 2007, 221 Posts, 5985 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on July 1, 2012 at 2:37 PM

Gorgeous light and color Peter. I like the otherworldly look created by the dark shadows created by the rock forms and the large cloud overhead.

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on July 1, 2012 at 4:31 PM

Thanks John and Eva.

John, I tried going back to reprocess this image and start from scratch, but was unable to use the warp tool in photoshop (grayed out). I'm not sure what I need to do to unlock that feature as I really only use adjustment layers.

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

Comment posted by John Mumaw on July 1, 2012 at 5:03 PM

Here's a short video tutorial on Puppet Warp that has an example that closely relates to what you wish to do, Peter.
If a mesh appears on the selection, simply uncheck the Show Mesh dialog on top of your screen.

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

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on July 1, 2012 at 5:07 PM

Thanks for the Link John. Is that something that can be found using photoshop cs3? Still working with that.

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

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on July 1, 2012 at 5:46 PM

Extremely nice, Peter. This may be the best one you've posted yet, I think. That low-hanging clouds is as incredible as the formations.

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

Comment posted by John Mumaw on July 1, 2012 at 6:26 PM

"Thanks for the Link John. Is that something that can be found using photoshop cs3? Still working with that."

I'm afraid not, Peter. The Free Transform tools should be just fine for this slight adjustment, though.

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

Comment posted by Wick Smith on July 1, 2012 at 6:48 PM

Great color & great processing on this one. I'd love to see a large version!

Registered on June 12, 2009, 91 Posts, 379 Comments

Comment posted by Vlad Sadovsky on July 1, 2012 at 8:06 PM

Wonderful light and colors , clouds and skies are perfect. Nice tonalities in tufa surfaces flowing into reflections.

Registered on November 12, 2010, 48 Posts, 358 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on July 1, 2012 at 8:14 PM

Thanks John, I'll have to look into that if I decide to print this up big (which at some point I probably will).

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

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on July 1, 2012 at 9:37 PM

Here is a repost fixing some of the distortion, still not quite 100% but I can always play around with it. Also made it just a tad brighter.

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

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on July 2, 2012 at 5:37 AM

Peter - The sky is pretty amazing and the tufa blends look very good. The FG seems to be lacking compared to the rest of the image and occupies a large portion. I might consider a crop, though not the best of choices for the way it was composed. Still, an intriguing light show you captured.

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

Comment posted by Paul Breitkreuz on July 2, 2012 at 9:16 AM

Looks like some ideal conditions here at Mono Lake for this capture, Peter. Wonderful colors.

Registered on February 25, 2006, 525 Posts, 8448 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Olsen on July 2, 2012 at 11:19 PM

Amazing photo Peter! The more I see of this place the higher it goes up on my bucket list!!
Thanks for sharing!

Registered on October 19, 2006, 306 Posts, 1571 Comments

Comment posted by Jared Warren on July 3, 2012 at 1:38 AM

Very nice light and colors. I never knew this place existed until recently. Thanks for your excellent presentation of this fascinating location.

Registered on May 11, 2012, 84 Posts, 931 Comments

Comment posted by Chikku Baiju on July 4, 2012 at 3:45 AM

Incredible light here! Cant be believe u got this many keepers from that one sunset :) Love the processing on this a lot. Great shot!

Registered on January 9, 2010, 31 Posts, 246 Comments