Black Canyon North Rim Moonrise

Fire at will!

What happened to the 'Black' part?

I'm with Stan, Todd. My only visit to the canyon was during mid-day with a clear blue sky and the canyon walls were much darker than in this image.

Photomatix a bit too strong on this one? Go to selective color and increase the black in neutrals and blacks some. Incredible detail in the cliff face though.

First, what an amazing comp! Second, I'm with Pamela. But just a touch of adjustment and you have a masterpiece.

Well done. For me I like it as is.

I also liked it.

This is truly spectacular. I like it the way it is, but would also like to see a version with the deep canyon slightly darkened. Here is a crop suggestion: crop from the left until you hit the left tree. Then crop from the right until you have just cropped out the tree on the right. Thanks for sharing. If there is a larger version we can see, that would be great.

Strilingly nice, Todd! I'd personally agree with some tweeks to darker some areas up, but is great as it is and perhaps a matter of personal preference..

Todd....this is an outstanding composition!! And you have so many details in the shadow areas...but I think the foreground, shadow area are a bit brighter than the sky...but of course may be it is just me going nuts... I really like the placement of tree right by the water .... Great job as always Todd...

Todd, great comp here. I would echo the comments already made, and also add that you might consider cropping or cloning out that little patch of clouds to the top right. There isn't enough there to really add anything and I find my eye drawn to that corner.

agree with the slightly darker suggestion, and I wouldn't mind if you show a little bit more of the immediate foreground, if possible. This really needs to be viewed in the gallery with good light and HUGE print to showcase the incredible depth!

This is an excellent shot and could be a bit darker but not required in my book.

Some excellent suggestions above.
This is an amazing view with some gorgeous light. Would love to see a repost here incorporating some of those suggestions.

I don't mind the "bright" canyon walls. I like seeing the detail of the stripes on the rock and in predawn light the canyon is really not as dark as it appears when the sun is up. Nice job of getting the moon in the image too. I'm not sure how I feel about the Gunnison running through the middle of the frame and seemingly cutting the image into a "50/50" sort of comp. The tree on lower right appears a bit truncated and doesn't add much but probably couldn't be avoided. Perhaps a little cropping of the right side in general will improve the visual impact of the image.

Wow, this is really cool! You're right about the smaller moon just adding a little bit of something to spice it up. The canyon just seems a little too bright as it goes away from the camera along the river.

Thanks for all the suggestions, gang. I'll post an updated version later today when I get home.

NIce comp here, Cloudman. It looks a bit over-baked to my eye, and the FG needs to be darker. I'll add that the canyon is not black when the light is even. Really contrasty light gives it the black apearance.

Gotta agree with the others on the darkening. It's going to be killer when you fix it though.

I like seeing the detail in the canyon but would like a little more contrast, great job on a hard subject though.