Posted by Kipp Schoen on October 20, 2009 at 1:12 AM
Took this back on October 3rd from County Road 7 near Ridgway, just getting around so processing some of the images. A lot of leaves had blown down in a windstorm the day before I arrived, but there was still some nice color in spots and a dusting of snow on the mountains. Light was good for about half an hour, so I kept shooting as it changed. One of the benefits of digital! Used Canon 70-200mm f4 and 5D MkII. Stitched 5 vertical images for the panorama. Thoughts/ comments/ critiques welcome. Thanks. Kipp
Posted by Kalin Wilson on October 20, 2009 at 1:33 AM
Interesting perspective in this shot, I like it. For me, I'd like just a little more breathing room above the peak and it sure would have been nice to have a full grove of yellow on the foreground hill - this was a tough year for that. I think I'd boost the saturation in the foreground a little to emphasize the color that you have more. I'd also look at reducing the sky saturation in the ULC to get more color contrast with the far ridge.
Still, I like the composition, I bet the detail is nice.
Posted by John Mumaw on October 20, 2009 at 9:15 AM
Can't add much to Kalin's comments.
The mountains and sky look great, but the lack of foliage diminishes the impact this could have had.
Posted by Todd Caudle on October 20, 2009 at 10:34 AM
All true, but a 5-shot pano with the 5D2 should yield billboard-size images!
(I'm thinking this looks soft, but I just woke up...)
Posted by Kipp Schoen on October 20, 2009 at 10:53 AM
Kalin, good point on the breathing room. I actually cropped it down to this point and do have image to work with for a bit more sky. May have overdone the cropping but the "balance" seemed better with less on top.
John, agree on the lack of foliage, that is one of the fun things about going back every year, the hope of getting better conditions.
Todd, you are awake, I normally do a quick sharpen to the JPEG before uploading and forgot to do it this time. The loss of leaves is kind of a bummer but with the large image size there is a lot of interesting details in the trees that should give lots of things to look at in a big print. A lot of detail also shows up on the crags of Sneffles. Thanks for the comments. Kipp
Posted by Michael Renner on October 20, 2009 at 11:02 AM
Nice shot Kipp, I have pretty much the exact same comp, but wasn't lucky enough to get some clouds in mine to add some extra interest to the sky.
I liked the comp as well when I was shooting here, but that barren hillside was a downer. I figured it was a good practice shot for next year when the conditions are better!
Posted by Morris McClung on October 20, 2009 at 11:44 AM
I'm with TC about it looking soft here, but I bet your file is plenty crisp. I like the comp and the light, and the lack of leaves doesn't bother me that much. Maybe address the sky issue Kalin brought up and maybe add some sky for canvas to give Sneffels a little more room. Not much more work and it could hang in an office as a huge print.
Posted by Jesse Speer on October 20, 2009 at 10:25 PM
I think you made the best of the moment ... and the spotlighting is the star here. I like it even better with the left side cropped out (40-50%). The way the light on that ridge penetrates the shadows is the most interesting aspect ... to me.
Posted by Steven Peckham on October 20, 2009 at 11:35 PM
Nice image and it looks like a clean stitch. I think Jesse has made a really good point in that the peak on the right is the best part of the image. A tighter crop would be interesting to compare with this one.
Discussion
8 repliesStill, I like the composition, I bet the detail is nice.
The mountains and sky look great, but the lack of foliage diminishes the impact this could have had.
(I'm thinking this looks soft, but I just woke up...)
John, agree on the lack of foliage, that is one of the fun things about going back every year, the hope of getting better conditions.
Todd, you are awake, I normally do a quick sharpen to the JPEG before uploading and forgot to do it this time. The loss of leaves is kind of a bummer but with the large image size there is a lot of interesting details in the trees that should give lots of things to look at in a big print. A lot of detail also shows up on the crags of Sneffles. Thanks for the comments. Kipp
I liked the comp as well when I was shooting here, but that barren hillside was a downer. I figured it was a good practice shot for next year when the conditions are better!
Nice image and it looks like a clean stitch. I think Jesse has made a really good point in that the peak on the right is the best part of the image. A tighter crop would be interesting to compare with this one.