The scene is fantastic, Russ--but to be honest the presentation feels a bit odd to me--i just can't reconcile the extremely bright highlites with the warm sunset light above--it feels like two photos to me. Looks like a grad or digital grad was used so that might be part of it. There's also some sharpening artifacts in the trees. I think there's a lot of potential here--and obviously some folks above who clearly know their stuff seem to really like it--so feel free to ignore me, im just giving you my take.
I'm with Stan on this one. Sometimes we need to not try so hard to make everything in a scene balance,, lest we end up with an image that looks manipulated. I'd let the falls go darker. You'd still see them, but it would look more natural.
McCullough Gulch indeed.
Posted by Doug Koepsel on July 26, 2011 at 11:36 AM
I like the comp. Seems the GND may have robbed the highlights from the tips of the fir trees. The nicely lit tips are visible on the bottom branches.
Posted by Jack Garrett on July 26, 2011 at 11:41 AM
I love the comp here but agre with Todd and Stan about darkening the water and it does appear just a little over sharpened...I'd love to see a re-post on this.
Posted by Pam Colander on July 26, 2011 at 11:51 AM
I agree that a re-work as suggested will make this excellent capture just take off !
A gorgeous sunset framed so well with an excellent composition!
I noticed that the falls were a bit bright, and have to agree with Stan & Todd's advice. I'd love to see a repost of this should you choose to implement that advice. This is a wall hanger, for sure!
Posted by Russ Shugart on July 26, 2011 at 2:34 PM
First, thanks to all for taking the time to comment. Stan, good eye, I ended up using about 3 stops of GND filter. The sky was really blowing out the scene and giving a strong orange glow to everything else. I used a little cooling on the white balance, bottom half to overcome that and probably went too far. It seems I'm always struggling with getting that "more natural" look and getting the sharpening right for internet presentation. If I could get my stuff half this natural looking - http://www.kaephotography.com/photo/revived/ - I'd be one happy guy. With all the great advice I get here, I'll get there! I'll pound away at a re-post and see what happens.
Excellent comp and light and just a few of the suggested adjustments and it will be something very special!
Posted by Russ Shugart on July 26, 2011 at 11:14 PM
Here's a retry with a lighter hand at the processing. I think it looks more natural but with not anywhere near as much WOW factor like I see here everyday. I'll get there though, with a little help from my friends!
Posted by Jack Garrett on July 26, 2011 at 11:32 PM
I like this MUCH better! Some of the others here might be able to help you bring the clouds back up...just a touch.... but the foreground looks great now.
I'm gonna give you a link that you may or may not choose to use. I have used Joseph Rossbach's Trillium Cascades technique on my last dozen photos with very good results. It's in 3 parts and deals with blends, lights, darks and contrast..plus a special little vignetting thing that I really like. See what you think:
Discussion
15 repliesRuss
www.AlpineGalleria.com
McCullough Gulch indeed.
I noticed that the falls were a bit bright, and have to agree with Stan & Todd's advice. I'd love to see a repost of this should you choose to implement that advice. This is a wall hanger, for sure!
Russ
www.AlpineGalleria.com
Russ
www.AlpineGalleria.com
I'm gonna give you a link that you may or may not choose to use. I have used Joseph Rossbach's Trillium Cascades technique on my last dozen photos with very good results. It's in 3 parts and deals with blends, lights, darks and contrast..plus a special little vignetting thing that I really like. See what you think:
http://www.josephrossbach.com/content.html?page=6