Posted by Bob Falcone on March 17, 2012 at 12:59 AM
Yesterday I went to the Superstitions to shoot some sunset photos, and had great light, but no clouds, so a "blah" sky. Today I had some nice clouds, a better location, but not so great light. Go figure. This is one of today's shots.
Quick and dirty post processing on my un-calibrated laptop.
Posted by Peter Coskun on March 17, 2012 at 1:25 AM
Looks like the clouds were generous for a short time, but as you said they didn't stick around long which has been the norm lately. I think you had some fair lighting conditions here, but the comp seems a bit busy particularly in the foreground with the tree branches leading in. The mountains themselves also appear to be soft while the saguaro is sharp. Were you in lost dutchman state park when you shot this?
Posted by Bob Falcone on March 17, 2012 at 1:50 AM
Hey Peter...
I wasn't trying for a busy comp as much as the line of saguaros leading from the front to back towards the mountains.
As far as the sharpness, in the full-sized RAW file, the mountains look good after just a bit of USM applied, which I did not do for this photo. It's so small and compressed, I don't know if trying to sharpen it would make it worse or not.
I shot this from the Crosscut trail, about 10 minutes from the trailhead on First Water Road.
Thanks for the feedback!
Posted by Peter Coskun on March 17, 2012 at 1:53 AM
Oh ok. Never shot them from that area. I think a little USM will make this pop just a bit more. I know recently I have been having trouble with web sharpening.
Posted by Paul DeCesare on March 17, 2012 at 3:07 AM
Hey Bob, just the fact that you got clouds down here at ALL is a great benefit, lol! One thing I've learned about doing post work in this southwest terra firma is that red blows out way quicker than you want it to, but you have it pretty much under control here which is nice. The comp is good, I keep grabbing the FG saguaro and then getting tossed back to the mountains (yes, they call those mountains down here) but I never leave the frame. Success!
Discussion
6 repliesQuick and dirty post processing on my un-calibrated laptop.
I wasn't trying for a busy comp as much as the line of saguaros leading from the front to back towards the mountains.
As far as the sharpness, in the full-sized RAW file, the mountains look good after just a bit of USM applied, which I did not do for this photo. It's so small and compressed, I don't know if trying to sharpen it would make it worse or not.
I shot this from the Crosscut trail, about 10 minutes from the trailhead on First Water Road.
Thanks for the feedback!
Hope you get a chance to 'develop' this further at home as there are some issues, but you can't beat that light!