Elemental

Gallery: LandscapePosted August 21, 2012867 views27 comments

An incredible night at Toroweap this August (2 weeks ago now).

This storm roared down the canyon and the lightning was truly unreal. Spent the following 30 minutes riding out the hail in the truck...then shot some moonbows as it passed to the west.

Two 14mm images manually stitched from the D800e.

All C&C appreciated!

Robert

Comments

27 comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on August 21, 2012 at 6:03 PM

Amazing conditions you caught here. I love the drama of the sky with the added lightning. The overall image appears soft as well as the larger version though, and this would be an image to view large.

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

Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on August 21, 2012 at 6:06 PM

That's just dumb....wtf...

Registered on October 26, 2009, 399 Posts, 2789 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Miller on August 21, 2012 at 6:18 PM

awesome composition and conditions, but as Peter mentioned the image appears soft, especially when you view large. The extreme foreground looks fine, but the cliff walls on both the left and right could use some crispening up.

Love the image, congrats on the amazing shot.

Registered on May 9, 2011, 23 Posts, 322 Comments

Comment posted by Jimmy Gekas on August 21, 2012 at 6:25 PM

Wow! Sweeeet!

Registered on July 26, 2007, 244 Posts, 2807 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on August 21, 2012 at 6:29 PM

Very dramatic. You were well positioned to capture the show.

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

Comment posted by Robert Beideman on August 21, 2012 at 6:33 PM

Probably should've done a little web sharpening. Here's a version that should screen better at 1000px (since I can't change the "larger version" now). Dropped to 8bits and sharpened a bit...

Sorry for that all...I really hadn't posted anything from the D800e (much less a 50+mp pano) sampled down to this dimension. Let me know if this is any better...

Registered on April 7, 2011, 27 Posts, 74 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on August 21, 2012 at 6:43 PM

The sharpening looks better in the repost, but you lost the nice varied reds in the walls from the original.

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

Comment posted by Dennis Harding on August 21, 2012 at 7:38 PM

Very dramatic image Robert. I love the way the sweeping cloud match in with the canyon walls. I prefer the clouds in the first smaller version.

Registered on January 19, 2011, 33 Posts, 408 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on August 21, 2012 at 7:43 PM

Exactly what I would want to happen at Toroweap!

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

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on August 21, 2012 at 7:59 PM

Epic! Other than the sharpening issue, looks magnificent.

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

Comment posted by jack jaeger jr on August 21, 2012 at 8:02 PM

AWESOME !!!

Registered on April 2, 2012, 26 Posts, 355 Comments

Comment posted by Yiming Hu on August 21, 2012 at 9:01 PM

Some really amazing conditions here.

Registered on April 28, 2011, 38 Posts, 733 Comments

Comment posted by Youssef Ismail on August 21, 2012 at 9:18 PM

Crazy amazing that you captured this. Wow.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 474 Posts, 5555 Comments

Comment posted by Jaymes Dempsey on August 21, 2012 at 9:27 PM

Really dramatic! Amazing depth, and the lightning is a great touch.

Registered on June 28, 2010, 47 Posts, 590 Comments

Comment posted by Joe James on August 21, 2012 at 9:29 PM

Super cool! There is nothing I can add, the sharpened version is great.

Registered on November 20, 2009, 89 Posts, 808 Comments

Comment posted by Kory Lidstrom on August 21, 2012 at 10:22 PM

The comp and subject matter are top notch. The lighting seems a bit off to me somehow, though. Can't put my finger on it. Regardless, this is a very striking image. Good work.

Registered on November 19, 2008, 49 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Westerbeck on August 22, 2012 at 1:50 AM

Amazing. The depth, color, texture in the clouds and rocks. All make for a wonderful shot. Thank you for sharing

Registered on March 21, 2012, 32 Posts, 111 Comments

Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on August 22, 2012 at 1:59 AM

Outrageous capture. I would agree with the comment that something seems off however. The foreground looks unusually bright but I think that works aesthetically. Something about the edges of the cloud on the top left looks weird, it might be an effect of contrast adjustment.

Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments

Comment posted by Stuart Williams on August 22, 2012 at 2:36 AM

high drama. the sky may appear a little too contrasty to my eye but that's all a personal thing. classic comp but with drama in sky! what more could you want?

Registered on December 7, 2007, 247 Posts, 4792 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Moore on August 22, 2012 at 7:37 AM

Wow! Sick conditions you had. Agree about the sky being a little too contrasty but excellent nonetheless.

Registered on January 12, 2010, 84 Posts, 388 Comments

Comment posted by Murali Santhanam on August 22, 2012 at 8:17 AM

Terrific scene.

Registered on July 31, 2008, 43 Posts, 331 Comments

Comment posted by Margaret Summers on August 22, 2012 at 11:53 AM

WOW! This is a beautiful shot - I especially like the updated, lightened version. Toroweap is a wonderful place to be, and you were there at a great moment!

Registered on May 24, 2011, 54 Posts, 99 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Everstine on August 22, 2012 at 4:39 PM

Could not have been a better capture, IMHO.

Registered on July 23, 2012, 29 Posts, 91 Comments

Comment posted by Joseph Campisi on August 23, 2012 at 3:15 AM

The sharpened version looks much better Robert. I too thought the clouds looked a little off on the LHS. Other than that, all I can say is wow!

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

Comment posted by Andreas Resch on August 23, 2012 at 12:45 PM

What a moment! I agree about the softness and you might want to try my sharpening script for Photoshop (description included) ... http://www.andreasresch.at/upload/WebSharpener.zip

Registered on November 14, 2007, 322 Posts, 6101 Comments

Comment posted by Floris van Breugel on August 23, 2012 at 2:14 PM

A seriously impressive storm you got to witness there, Robert! IMO the processing does look a bit off - the sky has too much contrast and the foreground is a little too bright and colorful for the dark and gloomy storm conditions. Then again, I prefer somewhat more natural looking processing, so to each his own

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

Comment posted by James Fougère on August 25, 2012 at 9:53 PM

It is always GREAT to be at the "right place at the right time"! Well done

I agree with Floris, in that the processing could be handled in a different way, but that is personal choice.

Registered on October 25, 2010, 41 Posts, 831 Comments