Mt.Hood - Pre dawn ( with repost )

Taken on the saturday outing with Ned, Eric and David. Does this work ? I couldn't find anything interesting other than the patch of fog/clouds clearing out at the right.

- pradeep

Well, to be honest, Pradeep, it's pretty boring. When the conditions are like this I usually try to find and interesting foreground and have that lead into the mountain. That field right there has all sort of interesting grass clumps and stuff. Also, the foreground would have been a much different color and you might have been able to come up with some sort of layering.
Still though, it ain't a bad way to spend the morning, is it?

Hmmmm, yeah. Pretty much exactly what Mark said. I will also add that this verison could use some more contrast.

Here's another comp that I could come up with . I had to play with the ND placement to sort of get this right but here it is. Let me know your thoughts.

Mark, it's definitely not a bad way to spend a morning, The joy of watching the pre-dawn clouds lift up exposing the mountain is something you can't capture on film.

I think the diagonal placement of the ND filter creates something that isn't pleasing at all. I understand why you did it, but using the ND this way isn't practical.

I agree with Ryan. It's things like this that give GND's a bad rap around digital photography forums. It's just too darn easy to control those mountain highlights with a simple, localized blend in this case. I am one huge proponent of grads, sponsored by Singh-Ray even, but still can't endorse them for every single application. This is one such example. You could have also just exposed for the highlights and let the forests drop into shadow.

I like the concept idea you were trying to achieve in the second shot, but just goes to prove that an ND is not always the best choice. Glad you guys had a great time watching the rise of the morning.

Marc, I actually tried that - exposing only the highlights and letting the tree drop into shadows, but wanted to try something different. The feedback is very helpful.

Ned, it was a great morning - wish there were some clouds though.

- pradeep

Well, Pradeep, upon every parade some rain must fall, and I think it was raining on your parade that morning. No matter how bad my photos turn out to be when I get back home, being out there and at least learning something always makes it a positive outing.