Washington Gulch Rainbow

Monte Trumbull and I were in Crested Butte a few weeks ago and had some really great shooting conditions. Here's the first one I've processed from the trip.

I'm interested in critique on the overall tonal range; the darkness conveys the mood I wanted, and is accurate to what it really looked like, but I wonder if it just comes across looking underexposed?

Nothing is clipped.

Great light, Nat, and i love the bow placement. I think the exposure is perfect, but i would like to see the fg flower/grass sharper, assuming this is not due to wind.

I like the highlight areas being separated by the dark valley, it gives it great depth. I wish the bow was brighter though, could be my CRT monitor

The rainbow isn't very prominent, but I don't think that matters at all because the yellow light and dark blue clouds are awesome!

What Jack said!

I agree with what's been said above. The contrast is very pleasing, the placement of the rainbow is perfect and the blue shadow colors are nice. I also agree with Stan about the sharpening.

Beautiful image Nat. I definately need to attend one of your workshops to improve my PS and Lightroom skills.

I like the moodiness and I tend to favor a slight underexposure for the contrast and saturation. I like the composition too. I think if it were mine I'd neutralize the blue of the clouds and distant ridges just a tad so it doesn't feel like there is a cast but I think it works as is too.

I agree with the consensus here. The spotlighting in the foreground is very pleasing. And I like the cool/warm contrast in color.

Thanks, everyone, for the feedback. I'm glad something about it resonates; I'm usually not much for grand scenics. But the mood of this worked for me, maybe it's the the blue vs. yellow.

The main reaction I have to the picture is from the opposing, interlocking triangles coming in from both sides (horizontal movement) with the arc of the rainbow countering them (vertical downward). There's a ping-pong eye movement happening, kind of a right-to-left upward swirl, that continually resolves in the lake at the end of the rainbow. I keep looking at the photo, and my eyes keep doing the same thing, back and forth. It's a simple, smooth movement, and it draws me in -- just like it did when I was standing there. This is what I hoped to convey with the composition, though I honestly didn't get it completely until processing.

Stan and Joshua, I'm not sure about any sharpness problems with the flowers in the foreground, aside from some sloppy downsampling/sharpening when I made the jpg. The detail is there in the DNG, and actually this jpg looks over-sharp on my display. Can you tell me about your display and settings? I'd like to see if I can process this better for screen output.

Nat, This is an awesome shot! The light is phenomenal! I love everything about this and wouldn't change a thing. I agree that the combination of yellows and blues really make this shot outstanding.