After seeing Jack Brauer's report a while back, I couldn't resist. Besides, the South San Juans are one of the closest places in Colorado to Santa Fe, and I've always felt like an idiot for not spending more time up there. So I took a solo three-day backpack last week, looping around the Middle and North Fork Conejos drainages, with a fair amount of time near the Divide. I never saw anyone else once I got away from the trailhead, and wildflowers were still going pretty strong.
This shot was one of those sunsets where you've given up on anything happening. I'd been hanging out up high waiting for light, but got chased down into the Middle Fork valley by a couple unnervingly close thunderclaps. I was strolling downhill, heading for bed, when things suddenly came alive and I was scrambling to find a comp. Fortunately, there was a foreground handy.
18mm, f13, 1/2s, ISO 200.
Posted by Guy Schmickle on August 30, 2008 at 10:37 AM
Way to think quickly! It's always fun when mother nature throws you a curve with some nice light when you least expect it. I'm wondering if you could try to lighten the foreground a bit (while keeping it realistic) so that winding creek stands out a little better.
Posted by Roger Rouch on August 30, 2008 at 1:12 PM
What a great looking area to camp! Nice to see a photo of a rather uncommon place to visit and I'll bet it was good to have the isolation. By my eye it's a very nice photo and makes me want to go down for a visit. That's one pretty meadow. I'd probably agree that it might be worth a try at a lighter foreground.
Beautiful scene and killer light in the sky. Definitely needs to be lightened up, though. The sky looks pretty close - though it could benefit from a slight boost - but the rest is pretty dark.
Posted by Paul Wegemann on August 30, 2008 at 3:24 PM
Really nice! I agree about lightening the foreground. That would take this up a notch.
Posted by Rand Herman on August 30, 2008 at 8:47 PM
Nice image, although as mentioned above, I think it would look better if lightened some.
Posted by Todd Caudle on August 30, 2008 at 10:10 PM
Encore! Encore!
Posted by Jack Brauer on September 3, 2008 at 1:10 AM
Nice shot Jackson! I love the windy creek leading into the distance. I agree that the foreground could get away with some lightening, but that's an easy adjustment if desired. The color in the clouds is amazing. Let's see some more!
Thanks for the kind words, everyone! Making things a bit too dark seems to be my particular processing vice; perhaps they seem lighter when I've been staring at them for half an hour than when I come to a web page afresh. I agree, though, and I'll definitely be fin etuning this one. Sincere thanks for everyone's advice!
Discussion
8 repliesThis shot was one of those sunsets where you've given up on anything happening. I'd been hanging out up high waiting for light, but got chased down into the Middle Fork valley by a couple unnervingly close thunderclaps. I was strolling downhill, heading for bed, when things suddenly came alive and I was scrambling to find a comp. Fortunately, there was a foreground handy.
18mm, f13, 1/2s, ISO 200.