Sentinel Sunrise

Gallery: LandscapePosted July 7, 2014259 views17 comments

The "Dollhouse" area of the Maze district in Canyonlands NP is one of the most remote, isolated, and enchanting places I've had the pleasure of visiting. From my Utah home I can make it to many great locations (e.g., Zion, Bryce, Arches, others) in about 3 hours or so. It took a little more than that to make it to the Hans Flat ranger station on the outskirts of the Maze district, then another 5-6 hours on rough 4X4 roads, including some pretty serious rock-crawling in places. [Thank you John Mumaw for helping me settle on and outfit my '99 4Runner - my perfect landscape photography vehicle!]. I wouldn't have gone there alone; I was glad my father and brother-in-law agreed to come along. Didn't see a another soul the two days we were out there.

Prior to this year I've done about 95% of my processing workflow in Lightroom, avoiding Photoshop thinking the learning curve would be too steep. This year I decided to "put my big boy pants on" and just make myself learn it. So now I'm shifting more of my workflow over to PS hoping it will pay dividends in the long run. I still have a long way to go so I'm particularly interested in processing suggestions you might have for me.

This image stretched my skills but here's basically what I did. I blended two foreground images for the grasses, a third for the background rocks, and a fourth for the sky. The base image was at 28mm, f/8.0, 1/500 sec, ISO 800 (there was a breeze so I was trying to freeze the moving grasses). Cloned out some stray grasses/weeds and tried to fix flare issue in background sun exposure. Used TK triple play actions on Lights, Ultralights, and Ultradarks. Added a slight Orton glow effect mostly around the sun and then added a little "light bleeding" (ala Ryan Dyar) around the sun and parts of the grasses. Selective dodging and burning to taste, and minor selective color adjustments. A little smart sharpening and TK actions for web sharpening and sizing. I will post an unprocessed base image below so you have a sense of what I started with.

Your thoughts and suggestions are much appreciated. Pick the nits!

Comments

17 comments

Comment posted by Jared Warren on July 7, 2014 at 8:15 PM

One of the foreground exposures that I brought into PS. [Hand covering sun to avoid flare in the foreground].

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

Comment posted by Brian Schrayer on July 7, 2014 at 8:37 PM

Excellent comp with lovely warm light. Nothing to critique here, Jared. I'm just going to enjoy the view. Exceptional work and nicely processed!!

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

Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on July 7, 2014 at 9:37 PM

Looks good here. Nice work :)

aF

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

Comment posted by Kane Engelbert on July 7, 2014 at 10:01 PM

That's some serious bad ass backlighting Jarred. I get your story too; this shot is unique and a never viewed scene, and will never be viewed again. This one is yours, forever. That should feel good!

Freezing the grass in that moment and blending it into the rest of the scene is some serious processing that's worth a high five.

OK, I literally go chills looking at this image. This is what hand blending is all about, conveying these high octane moment based images that cameras just cannot replicate. Welcome to Photoshop. It does everything a thousand different ways... and then some.

Splendid.

Registered on June 14, 2009, 63 Posts, 291 Comments

Comment posted by John&Patty Benway on July 8, 2014 at 6:05 AM

Very nice indeed Jared, beautiful light, detail and natural color. Beautifully seen and presented.
John

Registered on May 12, 2006, 626 Posts, 8700 Comments

Comment posted by Pat Sampson on July 8, 2014 at 6:54 AM

Jared,

I like this very much exactly as posted and I've spent about 10 mins trying to find a nit. (smile) Beautiful image and very fine processing.

pat

Registered on May 19, 2007, 953 Posts, 15989 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Reid on July 8, 2014 at 10:09 AM

Beautiful light in this Jared and the processing is just great. A beautifully put together scene. Great job.

Registered on January 27, 2013, 65 Posts, 2460 Comments

Comment posted by Joel Hazelton on July 8, 2014 at 12:20 PM

Beautiful shot and flawless blend! I'm curious if you have a background exposure where the sun is more obscured by the rocks? It's a little hot as is. Still great!

Registered on August 6, 2008, 194 Posts, 1315 Comments

Comment posted by Zhoen on July 8, 2014 at 2:50 PM

Holy moley, nicely done! I love how you applied all these techniques without going overboard, the scene still looks natural to my eyes. I seen too many light bleed gone wrong... If you have not already, for further control you can experiment with Blend If with your effects to isolate them to highlight, mid-tone or shadows.

Registered on May 16, 2013, 25 Posts, 188 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on July 8, 2014 at 4:44 PM

Lovely image and great blending - good on you for expanding your skillset and diving into PS.
Good job on the "hand exposure", learned this from SA landscape guru Hougaard Malan too.

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

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on July 8, 2014 at 7:04 PM

Jared, Just spent some time looking at your large version and just totally enjoyed it. Cool stuff you did here!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

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

Comment posted by gary phillips on July 8, 2014 at 9:16 PM

Well, Jared, I don't know what to say except you pretty much nailed it.. Love the techniques, and thanks so much for sharing. I'm in the same boat as far as processing goes. Have to force myself to use Photoshop, and for an old man set in his ways and a technophobe, it is not always easy. Really, really nice work.

Registered on October 24, 2013, 185 Posts, 4136 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on July 8, 2014 at 11:17 PM

Lovely light. I really like the warmth of this image

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

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on July 9, 2014 at 2:24 PM

Gorgeous. No nits at all here. The light in the FG grass is marvelous.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on July 9, 2014 at 2:36 PM

I join in with the enthusiastic crowd commending your fine work, here, Jared! Skilled photography for composing the image and fine craftsmanship in the processing. Looks like you've been years at Ps, not a newbie! Sounds like a fun and challenging outing, as well. Congrats on the whole darned thing!!