Serene Moment

Gallery: LandscapePosted July 29, 2013735 views15 comments

Another image from the Zen Ponds. Ive been looking at this one for three days now and beginning to wonder if I'm over analyzing my processing. It was a very difficult image to process. The sun was rising behind the mountain shown so controlling the highlight reds in the cirrus clouds while maintaining a nice transition to the mountains proved to be my dilemma.
I'm looking for critique here however I'm just not sure if my blending skill set can transition this image better. I feel like I've hit a road block with this one. Or maybe its fine the way it is.

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by Ted Gore on July 29, 2013 at 2:51 PM

I don't see the issue with the processing. Looks like a fine job to me. I enjoy this photo more than the previous. The composition is more cohesive. That strip of land serves as a nice guide for the eye, and the reflective pools give the eye nice scenery along the way. Only thing I could nitpick is maybe the slight discoloration there appears to be in the upper right corner? Like it was painted over with a touch of magenta or something. But that's a real stretch.

Registered on April 25, 2013, 36 Posts, 149 Comments

Comment posted by Joerg Bonner on July 29, 2013 at 4:36 PM

the processing looks great to me, as is! love the zen-ish leading line!

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

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on July 29, 2013 at 5:07 PM

I like the green finger of land between the water that contrasts nicely with the reflected red clouds and leads the eye. I think the reflection of the trees and blue sky turned out well. I think the overall luminosity has been handled well. There does seem to be some haloing along the ridge line.

Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments

Comment posted by Shane McDermott on July 29, 2013 at 6:30 PM

Hi Kane

Beautiful scene here well captured. I doesn't hold as much intrigue as your last post from this area. I find the middle ground a little dense and dark. With the mountain reflection in the pond and the dark trees it seems to present a bit of a visual barrier between the FG and BG. For me this becomes about the grass pathway through the image and the sky and it's reflection, but those two elements pull the image together nicely.

Registered on November 12, 2007, 49 Posts, 1074 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Schrayer on July 29, 2013 at 7:53 PM

With the disclosure that I'm pretty much a novice at blending I think this looks good. As you describe it with the sun rising behind the peaks they should be in shadow and the dark peaks provide a nice counterpoint to the vibrant color in the sky. There is still enough detail in the mountains to hold my interest.

Registered on May 28, 2004, 114 Posts, 2890 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Pelton on July 29, 2013 at 8:32 PM

Wonderful composition and processing; I would just lighten the grass and mountians slightly.

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

Comment posted by Jared Warren on July 29, 2013 at 9:53 PM

Wow - a lot better than "fine" in my eyes. I love this composition and the sky is amazing. Well worth the efforts you described previously.

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

Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on July 30, 2013 at 12:47 AM

That comp is pretty fun! Love that curve of grass leading away. Processing is ok...you'll probably come back to this one in a year or two when you refine the technique some more. Great shot.

aF

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

Comment posted by Ron Pullen on July 30, 2013 at 8:17 AM

Kane, I think you have handled it well, very nice capture. Ron

Registered on December 18, 2005, 74 Posts, 1413 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on July 30, 2013 at 11:14 AM

Sublime light and color, Kane. An excellent comp, too, with the "s" curve in the tundra. The middle area does look a little dark here, but I suspect it will open up on the dark background on your website. Beautiful scene.

You might consider a helicopter drop-off and pick-up for, say, 3 or 4 days here to spend all of your time photographing instead of the brutal trek you have to endure.

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

Comment posted by Stan Rose on July 30, 2013 at 12:10 PM

Man, tough audience! That's what happens when you express uncertainty in your shot--the wolves sense weakness and attack

Seriously, i think this looks about right and it's a sweet scene. I actually like a version with the top totally cropped but that's probably a bit too weird to be popular. The transition looks fine to me--my only suggestion if you want to improve the presentation is to selectively sharpen cause the trees are oversharpened here. Nice work!

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

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on July 30, 2013 at 12:28 PM

Looks like a stunner of a place. I would agree with Stan about loosing much of the sky - especially the left corner area to a crop. The RLC reflection balances the scene out for me without competing bright sky above. The other slight improvement for me would involve either giving the left edge a little more breathing room or crop in a little so the curve isn't exactly on the edge of the image. Less confining maybe for the brain. This can be the most peaceful time of day during a backpack trip.

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

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on July 30, 2013 at 12:48 PM

The sky seems too dark and blue for the light levels on the landscape, and I think that's what feels a bit 'off' to me. This treatment does show off the landscape details though, which are lovely around those alpine tarns. If this were mine I'd shift away from blues in the sky to more yellow and keep it brighter, especially on the horizons above the mountains. At the very least though, I'd back off the blue sat.

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

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on July 30, 2013 at 6:24 PM

Looks pretty darn good to me. Beautiful spot and image.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on August 3, 2013 at 11:20 PM

Another beautiful shot, this time with a stronger composition. I agree that the blues look a bit odd, but it's not an unattractive feature.

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