Posted by Kurt Rinne on February 5, 2009 at 7:44 PM
Well finally getting around to catching up on some photo processing.
This was taken over Halloween wknd, my first trip out to Zion and defiantly not the last. This is my first real attempt at HDR using photomatix so C&C would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Kurt
Posted by Chris Rice on February 5, 2009 at 8:12 PM
Kurt;
Theres great color on the walls here, I'm assuming this is sunset? I don't recognize the location, but are the Patriarchs behind you?
A few things I noticed in your shot are some banding problems in the sky. On my display they may be showing up more than others. I don't do HDR so I don't know if it is a result of that, but I have seen banding occur soemtimes with digital cameras, if the image is oversaturated.
I think that this might benefit from a crop from the top down, about an inch from the top, to make it a panoramic. While the sky is dramatic, I think it may be just a little too much. Give that a try and see what you think.
Otherwise, great work! I want to see more, I love Zion!!!
CGR
Posted by Joshua Hardin on February 5, 2009 at 8:49 PM
I really like the colors on this too. The trees in the foreground are a good addition. Personally, I would vote for leaving the dramatic sky, but a pano crop might be interesting just to compare. I am also seeing the banding in the sky Chris noticed. Additionally, the middle of the frame seems somewhat dark and the corners appear lighter (you can really see the difference in the trees). This could be fixed with a vignetting adjustment in your image editing software.
Posted by Kurt Rinne on February 5, 2009 at 9:37 PM
Thanks for the C&C guys,
I'm still very much a rookie with pp so I'll try and redo it, I do like the idea of a pano on this one. I'll try to leave a fair amount of sky tho since I think it's very dramatic and add's to the scene.
Thanks
Kurt
Posted by Todd Caudle on February 5, 2009 at 11:41 PM
I think that in your attempt to preserve detail in the foreground, the image has taken on a manipulated look. If it were my photo, I'd try just letting the foreground go dark, like it already is in the distant shadow, and let that great light, and those awesome clouds (which I would keep in their entirety, btw) be the sole focus of this very nice shot.
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on February 6, 2009 at 12:26 AM
I agree with Todd's suggestions regarding the foreground & keep those great clouds.
I had 5 consecutive mornings of clear blue sky at the Towers, so I really appreciate those clouds!
Posted by Dave Van on February 6, 2009 at 11:42 AM
Kurt -- Love the colors, like the others, I also see the banding in the sky. The clouds add to this image, it just has the appearance of being "over-processed" if that makes sense.... My eyes are immediately drawn to the colors in the rock, I would make that the focal point, and let the trees in the foreground darken up a bit...
Nice Image!
Posted by Mel Ladewig on February 6, 2009 at 11:52 AM
Kurt, I agree with Todd's assessment. I think Photomatix has gone a bit wild here, but a manual blend or a just a single shot with the dark foreground would be great here.
Posted by Kalin Wilson on February 6, 2009 at 3:21 PM
Hey Kurt, nice to see some of your Zion shots. I have yet to work my towers shots. This looks nice - I agree with the suggestions. Good job!
Posted by Paul Wegemann on February 7, 2009 at 2:22 PM
This is a wonderful photo that's really hurt by over zealous post processing. You might try double processing the raw image with a manual blend to finish up, or if you feel that Photomatix does a good job on certain portions, just multi process it in Photomatix, then blend in PS. This is such a great shot that I think it deserves whatever amount of time you need to put in to it.
Update - I forgot to mention why I think it's over processed. The sky is seriously pixelated and there is banding. This is common with Photomatix and getting too heavy-handed with tonal adjustments. The transition of sky to peaks looks very fake to me. It almost looks like the sky is from a different photo. The left and right side have the classic hdr darkening. They don't really look bad, but along with the other things I mentioned, they just seem to be more noticeable. I hope you'll rework this. I really do think it's a great shot and has much potential.
BTW, Photomatix isn't the only game in town. I've been experimenting with both Enfuse and Essential HDR. I think both create much more natural looking blends.
Posted by Kurt Rinne on February 7, 2009 at 9:21 PM
Thanks for all the great C&C guys,
Here is a re edit better worse?
http://rockymountaincichlids.com/webpics/IMG_8088_6_7-crop-S.jpg
I am currently using acdsee pro as my photo editor. I hope to learn how to use lightroom in the near future.
Posted by John Mumaw on February 8, 2009 at 6:52 PM
I didn't catch your repost 'til now.
It looks a whole lot better to me! A few tweaks to bring out the leaves on the tree a bit more might help, but it's hard to tell at this small size.
Photomatix can often be a bit overkill for some images that only need slight tweaking in PS or Lightroom. You have a lot more editing capability in PS if you haven't bought LR already.
Posted by Chris Rice on February 8, 2009 at 7:27 PM
Kurt;
Beginning to look really sweet. The crop works nicely, except now one more suggestion: try cropping in from the left to remove some of the hillside, to balance out the sunlit rock. The sky could use a bump but maybe this is the look you're going for. Good work!!
Posted by Kurt Rinne on February 9, 2009 at 12:56 AM
Thanks guys,
This is slow going to say the least but I've promised myself this year that I will learn more about PP to help do justice to my photos. I still believe that we should do the most we can in the camera. I have not bougth LR or PS yet but I do have some books on LR and it just seems to be an easier way to start and then eventually get both.
Discussion
13 repliesThis was taken over Halloween wknd, my first trip out to Zion and defiantly not the last. This is my first real attempt at HDR using photomatix so C&C would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Kurt
Theres great color on the walls here, I'm assuming this is sunset? I don't recognize the location, but are the Patriarchs behind you?
A few things I noticed in your shot are some banding problems in the sky. On my display they may be showing up more than others. I don't do HDR so I don't know if it is a result of that, but I have seen banding occur soemtimes with digital cameras, if the image is oversaturated.
I think that this might benefit from a crop from the top down, about an inch from the top, to make it a panoramic. While the sky is dramatic, I think it may be just a little too much. Give that a try and see what you think.
Otherwise, great work! I want to see more, I love Zion!!!
CGR
I'm still very much a rookie with pp so I'll try and redo it, I do like the idea of a pano on this one. I'll try to leave a fair amount of sky tho since I think it's very dramatic and add's to the scene.
Thanks
Kurt
I had 5 consecutive mornings of clear blue sky at the Towers, so I really appreciate those clouds!
Nice Image!
Update - I forgot to mention why I think it's over processed. The sky is seriously pixelated and there is banding. This is common with Photomatix and getting too heavy-handed with tonal adjustments. The transition of sky to peaks looks very fake to me. It almost looks like the sky is from a different photo. The left and right side have the classic hdr darkening. They don't really look bad, but along with the other things I mentioned, they just seem to be more noticeable. I hope you'll rework this. I really do think it's a great shot and has much potential.
BTW, Photomatix isn't the only game in town. I've been experimenting with both Enfuse and Essential HDR. I think both create much more natural looking blends.
Here is a re edit better worse?
http://rockymountaincichlids.com/webpics/IMG_8088_6_7-crop-S.jpg
I am currently using acdsee pro as my photo editor. I hope to learn how to use lightroom in the near future.
It looks a whole lot better to me! A few tweaks to bring out the leaves on the tree a bit more might help, but it's hard to tell at this small size.
Photomatix can often be a bit overkill for some images that only need slight tweaking in PS or Lightroom. You have a lot more editing capability in PS if you haven't bought LR already.
Beginning to look really sweet. The crop works nicely, except now one more suggestion: try cropping in from the left to remove some of the hillside, to balance out the sunlit rock. The sky could use a bump but maybe this is the look you're going for. Good work!!
This is slow going to say the least but I've promised myself this year that I will learn more about PP to help do justice to my photos. I still believe that we should do the most we can in the camera. I have not bougth LR or PS yet but I do have some books on LR and it just seems to be an easier way to start and then eventually get both.