Posted by Paul Martin on October 8, 2011 at 2:12 PM
I decided to skip working on the image in my previous post to work on another image of the peak. No blending on this one, I just used a grad in a strategic position. It was mid-afternoon, so the as the sun was breaking through the clouds it was almost directly into me, but I really liked the way the aspen looked when backlit. I think this shot is fairly accurate to the scene, but any suggestions on how I can improve it are always welcome.
Posted by Paul Martin on October 8, 2011 at 2:22 PM
And another one...
Posted by Tom Stermitz on October 8, 2011 at 4:51 PM
The bottom and right sides aren't doing a lot for me. The glowing aspen in the middle-back of the first picture is really exciting.
Each of these photos has interesting light playing across the aspen. I think this is a case for merging the photos and masking to make the light play as you wish.
You'd have to go down the photoshop road anyway, using masks to emphasize local contrast and lightening some areas, in particular the mountains. I would saturate the greens a bit, maybe also the redd-sh mountains; do some work to balance the huge amount of yellow.
I prefer the first one here between the 3 shots. It seems to carry the eye back to the peak in a sweep better than the other two. Very nice work, Paul!
Posted by Don Grall on October 10, 2011 at 11:56 AM
The only thing keeping this from reaching the next level is the lack of light on Capitol Peak which would give it better depth, so the peak only serves as a distraction in its current unlit state. Unfortunately that's not an easy solution. How about cropping Capitol off and treating it as a pano of just the foreground lit forest on the 2nd shot here, there's great light on both major groves making those the main focal point of the photo with or without the peak in it.
Posted by Phillip Noll on October 10, 2011 at 7:16 PM
I love the sweeping curve, brooding clouds and the light on the aspens in the first image. Very nice!
Posted by Dan Walters on October 10, 2011 at 8:57 PM
Like the first image. Great color and I really like the clouds.
Posted by Paul Martin on October 11, 2011 at 4:30 PM
Thanks for the suggestions, I will have to see what I can do to fill out the gaps left in the image. I may have to go back and try blending some exposures together, and maybe some selective dodging to try and brighten up the peak a bit. Interesting suggestion on the crop Don -- I'll have to play with that too. Thanks!
Discussion
7 repliesEach of these photos has interesting light playing across the aspen. I think this is a case for merging the photos and masking to make the light play as you wish.
You'd have to go down the photoshop road anyway, using masks to emphasize local contrast and lightening some areas, in particular the mountains. I would saturate the greens a bit, maybe also the redd-sh mountains; do some work to balance the huge amount of yellow.