First Morning

A couple of weeks ago, Scott Bacon and I got to spend three great days in SE Utah. We headed out from the CO front range Thursday night and camped outside Canyonlands. The dawn had mixed cloud cover so we weren't sure what we'd get but we headed in to Green River Overlook anyway. A layer to the east blocked the direct light until the sun got a little higher. As it started spotlighting the canyon the distant clouds picked up some color too. I was hoping the underside of the fast moving clouds would catch fire too but no dice.

This is the first shot I've worked up from that morning. I've got one or two more that I may seek comments on also. After that we headed down to Road and Slickhorn canyons, so I should have some canyon ruin shots to share soon too.

Let's hope this brings some of Scott's shots out too!

Let me know what you think and how this might be improved!

Canon 5DII, Canon 100-400 4.5-5.6L IS (4 verticals stitch)

Here is a little larger version

Here is a B&W version. I like some of the drama in the clouds but I think I like the color version more for a variety of reasons.

Hi Kalin - I like both versions. I am viewing these on my uncalibrated laptop, so I am not sure if this is a valid comment, but the blues in the upper left corner and sky look a bit hot (may be my monitor and not your image). The spotlighting is a nice touch.

Wow! You got some gorgeous light and some great skies here, Kalin. Thanks for posting the larger version.
I wouldn't have minded seeing just a bit more to the left, but that's an awfully minor nit.
This makes for a very nice b&w image, but after seeing the color version, it's an easy choice for me.

Sarah, I agree with the posted version. The original isn't quite so blue, more gray, but the storm clouds were pretty dark. I think the jpeg compression accentuated the color a tad, but I'm going to look at it again.

Thanks for the nod to the color version, John.

I'm going to go with the color as well. I like the level of detail I can see in it. I say this without my glasses, my first sip of coffee and squinting at the monitor.

This is a beautiful view that I never tire of. I too prefer the color version, but there is a bit of an HDR feel to it that is kinda bugging me, mostly in the sky.

Excellent comp. The color is a skoche overdone for my tastes, and in the b&w I might try and dodge the White Rim a tad to help it stand out a little more.

Jeff stole almost my exact thoughts. Sweet shot, though, just play with the processing a bit and it will be thoroughly awesome! I expect I'd ultimately prefer color, but B&W could really sing too.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I was interested to view this on various browsers at work, etc. Scary how different it looks in different browsers and machines. Still, I think there is more work to be done. Taking a step back and away for a bit, and getting your input helps!

Beautiful scene Kalin. I think I prefer the color on this one.

Great Image Kalin, I do like the color one best because of the way it separates the elements.