Most of my peers are heading up toward the cool mountains at this time of year.
Every time I head thataway though, I find myself taking a left turn on Main St. instead, and ending up in the desert....again.
Toroweap Point on the north rim of the Grand Canyon is accessed via a 60 mile long primitive, barely maintained gravel road and it takes 2.5 hours to get there from the paved road. No surprise that I was the only soul there yesterday (..the smart folks head for the mountains in July!).
At one point after I arrived, there was a violent thunderstorm in the late afternoon that made me wonder whether I would end up spending all weekend long up there. Soon enough, it cleared out and left me a clean and pleasant sunrise in one of the most isolated places that I've ever been. To compound matters even further, this composition involved one of the more frightening positions that I've ever managed to find myself.
To the mountains next week...I swear!!
Two exposures blended to overcome a tricky exposure. Any tips or advice greatly appreciated.
"60 miles on gravel roads", that in itself makes this image special, photographing lesser known GCNP locations has got to be rewarding!. Your composition is beautiful John, the fg rock fingers really add to the depth and mkae excellent leading lines. Light couldn't be better either, Very nice!.
Nicely done, John. I also like your leading lines. Did you see Lava Falls? It's visible by walking the canyon edge in a downstream direction about 20 yards from where you took this photo. Lava is one of the largest rapids in the canyon and was once listed as the fastest rapid in the world by the Guinness boys ( no, not the beer!).
Sounds like you got some fireworks via Mother Nature this weekend! I love the composition on this. It's much different than anything else I've seen. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks this, but the lack of contrast with the bg canyon walls and sun star kind of takes a way from the image a little. It made me think HDR the minute I opened it. It's something that I would think could be easily remedied though.
I've come back to this image multiple times trying to figure out what was bugging me, then I saw Guy's post and my thoughts echo his regarding the contrast. But, what I find most objectionable in this otherwise fine image are the red splotches inside the sunbeams. I don't know if that's a web compression thing or not.
Now that I got that off my chest... this is a killer comp, John. And is that a glint of sunlight inside the rocks in the LLC? Very cool if it is. Sorry for being so wordy, but this is a great shot and I thought it deserved some consideration.
I really like this shot! The colors and comp are excellent. I do agree, and maybe it was humidity or haze affecting the contrast, that it could use a touch of contrast in the background and sky.
Hey John, I love and I mean love the comp on this! I know a few already mentioned the contrast....If you play with it, I hope you repost, would like to see it. I am terrified of heights, so I am not sure I even want to know where you were standing to take this!
Don,
I did check out Lava Falls, but at 3000' ft. above, it doesn't have quite the impact that a rafter may feel at eye level. Still, everything about the gorge is impressive from there!
Dave,
I usually just do simple blending using layer masks, but I tried this method outlined in this simple tutorial and it worked. Did a great job with the sun's orb itself in fixing the 'blown out' area surrounding it that I wasn't even expecting!
Give it a whirl sometime.
Guy & Paul,
Thank you both for your keen eyes. You were right regarding contrast, and I believe I corrected that. Please let me know one way or another. There's little I can do to remove any backlit haze, though.
Paul, your vision is astonishing! I would never have noticed that pinpoint of sunlight had you not mentioned it. And that's exactly what it is.
I believe the red splotches are indeed compression issues as I don't see them in the full res. file.
Thanks again for taking the time out to help me with this one!
The comp is great but the processing on both versions pains me to look at. Sorry if this sounds harsh. It looks like you got the necessary captures to put together a really nice composite; something has gone wrong along the way. I would love to see the original captures, with minimal processing. There's the potential for something great here....
I'm with Nat on this one. The comp is truly amazing and virtually perfect. Plus the sun rays seem perfect to me.
I'm having trouble with the Cyan-ish shadows. There's some huge dynamic range going on here. John, did you have to pull some shadow out of the canyon? The river seems a tad highlighted which overall doesn't diminish the image however it leads me to think the shadows have been worked a bit too much. Just a thought.
BTW, I like the first one better. The repost just eccentuates the cyan.
John, I like the contrast better in the 2nd one, but I like the colors better in the first. #2 seems to have picked up a cyanish cast as already mentioned. I think your PP skills exceed mine, so I don't know what to suggest to fix this. BTW, thanks for the link to the blending article. Luminous Landscape has a couple that use similar techniques, but the one you posted is quick and easy.
The comp is great but the processing on both versions pains me to look at. Sorry if this sounds harsh.
No need to be sorry, Nat.
You are absolutely correct. This one sat in the oven for far too long, and after a respite from the screen, I see that you are right. Thanks so much for not sparing the rod!
I will start over from scratch in a day or so.
One of the really great things about John is his ability to take constructive criticisms in the spirit they're offered. I marvel at the composition, John, and I'm having a difficult time imagining how the first post would be all that different from the way the eyes would have seen it. A little boost in contrast wouldn't be bad, but I'm not sure that part of the actual scene was all that contrasty to begin with.
John, I think you have all the good materials in this composition. Like others have mentioned, I do feel the bg can be darkened a little bit more and eliminate some of the cyan cast especially in the second version. But the river itself is great and I love it.
Discussion
22 repliesEvery time I head thataway though, I find myself taking a left turn on Main St. instead, and ending up in the desert....again.
Toroweap Point on the north rim of the Grand Canyon is accessed via a 60 mile long primitive, barely maintained gravel road and it takes 2.5 hours to get there from the paved road. No surprise that I was the only soul there yesterday (..the smart folks head for the mountains in July!).
At one point after I arrived, there was a violent thunderstorm in the late afternoon that made me wonder whether I would end up spending all weekend long up there. Soon enough, it cleared out and left me a clean and pleasant sunrise in one of the most isolated places that I've ever been. To compound matters even further, this composition involved one of the more frightening positions that I've ever managed to find myself.
To the mountains next week...I swear!!
Two exposures blended to overcome a tricky exposure. Any tips or advice greatly appreciated.
"Blend If" or another?
Love the lighting.
DON'T take a step back!
Killer shot, John. I've always wanted to go there, nice to see where the sun rises in July.
Now that I got that off my chest... this is a killer comp, John. And is that a glint of sunlight inside the rocks in the LLC? Very cool if it is. Sorry for being so wordy, but this is a great shot and I thought it deserved some consideration.
Don,
I did check out Lava Falls, but at 3000' ft. above, it doesn't have quite the impact that a rafter may feel at eye level. Still, everything about the gorge is impressive from there!
Dave,
I usually just do simple blending using layer masks, but I tried this method outlined in this simple tutorial and it worked. Did a great job with the sun's orb itself in fixing the 'blown out' area surrounding it that I wasn't even expecting!
Give it a whirl sometime.
Guy & Paul,
Thank you both for your keen eyes. You were right regarding contrast, and I believe I corrected that. Please let me know one way or another. There's little I can do to remove any backlit haze, though.
Paul, your vision is astonishing! I would never have noticed that pinpoint of sunlight had you not mentioned it. And that's exactly what it is.
I believe the red splotches are indeed compression issues as I don't see them in the full res. file.
Thanks again for taking the time out to help me with this one!
I'm having trouble with the Cyan-ish shadows. There's some huge dynamic range going on here. John, did you have to pull some shadow out of the canyon? The river seems a tad highlighted which overall doesn't diminish the image however it leads me to think the shadows have been worked a bit too much. Just a thought.
BTW, I like the first one better. The repost just eccentuates the cyan.
Kane
No need to be sorry, Nat.
You are absolutely correct. This one sat in the oven for far too long, and after a respite from the screen, I see that you are right. Thanks so much for not sparing the rod!
I will start over from scratch in a day or so.
Thanks again for all of the comments!