Here's some photos from the Tetons portion of my big trip. I know not everyone here is a fan of my PP but C&C is welcome.
Click the links for larger versions.
#1. "Last Rays" When I first arrived at the snake river overlook it was completely overcast. Just as the sun was setting it burst through the clouds right over the mountains casting theses amazing rays of light.
I like the second one Jason. NIce glow on the peaks and reflection. Great sunburst on that first one too. Is there still that much snow up there?
Posted by John Mumaw on August 19, 2010 at 3:13 PM
I think your processing here is exemplary myself.
'Last Rays' is a magnificent scene! Lucky you for witnessing such a spectacle.
I do like the b&w very much, but am a bit curious about how a color version would appear. Bringing up just a bit of detail in the lower left corner would help balance this out a bit better.
'Color of Teewinot' is also splendid. As Dean noted, beautiful glow on the peaks and reflection! I think that cropping a half inch from the bottom (losing the cutoff rock while keeping the elongated rock in the lower left) would be an asset.
IMO, the color version trumps the b&w version handily, as those colors are really glorious.
The pano. version of the mountains is spectacular! Now, this is perfect for b&w. The sage plain is is an excellent lead in to those majestic peaks and the clouded skies are sweet indeed. So much detail to savor here! Kudos for keeping an even tone in those skies, which is tricky with large panos like this one.
Two suggestions here. Can you straighten out the bow at the edge of the sage plain? It's quite pronounced and not a difficult fix. Also, burning down the bright area of the sage left of center to more closely match the left and right sides would eliminate another distraction.
Pretty wordy response I know, but these images were worth it. Some of the best shots from the Tetons I've seen in some time.
I think you were very successful!
Jason, I am mesmerized by Last Rays. It's remeniscent of the Adams image from the same place. I was there in May and kept waiting for these conditions to present themselves but it didn't happen in my limited time in the Tetons. Stellar image.
I'm biting my tongue here to keep from writing a novel about PP. Bottom line is it's YOUR image and YOUR vision so you have an obligation to process it how it pleases YOU. I'm not a fan of heavily vignetted corners but it's not my image so it doesn't really matter. I still love this image and wish I'd shot it.
On another topic, I think I saw your image "Rivers of Fire" on an edition of Yellowstone Insider but I can't seem to locate that page again. If that was your image, congratulations.
Posted by Kurt Bowman on August 20, 2010 at 3:25 PM
Beautiful job on these! Love the sunburst on the first one!
Posted by Joshua Hardin on August 22, 2010 at 1:37 PM
Nice work. The first image does evoke Adams' rendition in my mind as well, the B&W treatment is perfect. I prefer the color version of Teewinot and like your PP style on it, I might suggest a very slight CCW rotation to line up the horizon of the lake. I also echo John's horizon comment about the pano: the distortion/large curve on the plain is extremely distracting but can be easily fixed with a lens correction filter in Photoshop. I like everything else about the image.
Dean: I was surprised by the amount of snow as well; the image was taken on July 11th.
John: There's more detail in the corner of "Last Rays" in LR so I guess I'll have to adjust it for output. I agree with you on the crop of "Color of Teewinot", although I'm going to leave the it uncropped when I get my canvas print because the rocks will end up on the side of the frame. The B&W is actually a different image if you look at the light and clouds. Thanks for the suggestion on darkening the sage, it looks much better now. I wasn't able to correct the bow as it's only in part of the image and not centered, could you advise how? Thanks for the help.
Bill: Don't worry, my PP definitely pleases me, thanks. It must have been someone else with the same shot on in Yellowstone Insider as the only place I've ever been published is a festival pamphlet and visitors guide back in Ohio.
Joshua: I just checked the horizon in LR with the straightening tool and it didn't change it, it might just be the shoreline. I wasn't able to correct the bow as it's only in part of the image and not centered, could you advise how? Thanks
Posted by Brian Jackson on August 23, 2010 at 12:29 AM
Really like #2. Well done.
Posted by Joshua Hardin on August 23, 2010 at 2:30 PM
Hey Jason, regarding straightening the bow on the pano, if you desire, there are a couple processes you can try. If you have CS5 look for "lens correction" almost directly under the top in filters pull-down menu (in earlier Photoshop versions lens correction can be found under filters -> distort -> lens correction, you may need to temporarily convert your image back to RGB to activate it). CS5 has some auto settings that you can plug in to fix distortion based on your lens brand and model. These are great for single exposures, but sometimes of little use for stitches. Select the "custom" tab and the first slider on the top you'll see is "remove distortion." This can be very useful for minor adjustments. The drawbacks however are that it works from the center of the image only and the corners (or also the middle of the image) can look warped depending on how extreme the correction and more cropping of the image may sometimes be necessary.
Discussion
14 repliesClick the links for larger versions.
#1. "Last Rays" When I first arrived at the snake river overlook it was completely overcast. Just as the sun was setting it burst through the clouds right over the mountains casting theses amazing rays of light.
You have to see this one big!
'Last Rays' is a magnificent scene! Lucky you for witnessing such a spectacle.
I do like the b&w very much, but am a bit curious about how a color version would appear. Bringing up just a bit of detail in the lower left corner would help balance this out a bit better.
'Color of Teewinot' is also splendid. As Dean noted, beautiful glow on the peaks and reflection! I think that cropping a half inch from the bottom (losing the cutoff rock while keeping the elongated rock in the lower left) would be an asset.
IMO, the color version trumps the b&w version handily, as those colors are really glorious.
The pano. version of the mountains is spectacular! Now, this is perfect for b&w. The sage plain is is an excellent lead in to those majestic peaks and the clouded skies are sweet indeed. So much detail to savor here! Kudos for keeping an even tone in those skies, which is tricky with large panos like this one.
Two suggestions here. Can you straighten out the bow at the edge of the sage plain? It's quite pronounced and not a difficult fix. Also, burning down the bright area of the sage left of center to more closely match the left and right sides would eliminate another distraction.
Pretty wordy response I know, but these images were worth it. Some of the best shots from the Tetons I've seen in some time.
I think you were very successful!
I'm biting my tongue here to keep from writing a novel about PP. Bottom line is it's YOUR image and YOUR vision so you have an obligation to process it how it pleases YOU. I'm not a fan of heavily vignetted corners but it's not my image so it doesn't really matter. I still love this image and wish I'd shot it.
On another topic, I think I saw your image "Rivers of Fire" on an edition of Yellowstone Insider but I can't seem to locate that page again. If that was your image, congratulations.
Dean: I was surprised by the amount of snow as well; the image was taken on July 11th.
John: There's more detail in the corner of "Last Rays" in LR so I guess I'll have to adjust it for output. I agree with you on the crop of "Color of Teewinot", although I'm going to leave the it uncropped when I get my canvas print because the rocks will end up on the side of the frame. The B&W is actually a different image if you look at the light and clouds. Thanks for the suggestion on darkening the sage, it looks much better now. I wasn't able to correct the bow as it's only in part of the image and not centered, could you advise how? Thanks for the help.
Bill: Don't worry, my PP definitely pleases me, thanks. It must have been someone else with the same shot on in Yellowstone Insider as the only place I've ever been published is a festival pamphlet and visitors guide back in Ohio.
Joshua: I just checked the horizon in LR with the straightening tool and it didn't change it, it might just be the shoreline. I wasn't able to correct the bow as it's only in part of the image and not centered, could you advise how? Thanks
There is another solution you might consider which I have detailed in my post here:
http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/bbs.cgi?a=vm&mr=59188&CGISESSID=7ce5b2fe8efb41c800748a3516e7fbea&u=14455