This is a couple miles above the visitors center taken last fall. The light wasn't great as you can see but I struggle with grand visits regardless of conditions from capture all the way thru processing. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Larger version included. thanks for looking.
I've got to set aside some time once things return to normal at work to take a trip to Glacier; I see such amazing stuff come out of there. I really like the comp here, the peak is perfectly placed and you have nice interest in the bottom third. This is a great scene, but I agree the light wasn't friendly.
I desperately try to take the photo in the best lighting possible, but often find that for various reasons I can't. If I am forced to take a photo in less than ideal conditions, I usually try and ask "What did the light force on me that I don't like, and how can I change it?" For me, the main problem in this photo is the bright sky mixed with the deep shadows of the foreground. In addition the color of the sky seems a little off; to my eye it seems to be more cyan than blue. (My monitor is really aging, so hopefully the calibration is holding true.) The color is an easy fix, but the light takes some work, especially if you want to avoid halos.
I'm a fan (maybe disciple would be a better noun?) of Dan Margulis, and his new book "Modern Photoshop Color Workflow" has some great tools for attacking problems like this. I'm still exploring some of his techniques, and hope to use them a lot in the future.
Anyway, I took a spin 5-minute spin in Photoshop with your photo, and with your permission I'll post it here. It's a quick and dirty version, but hopefully conveys the direction I would head if I spent some time on the photo. Having the raw to work with really helps for these photos that need to move a long way (even better for my processing style is to have to versions with one properly exposed for the highlights and one for the shadows), but this should at least give an idea.
(For this version, I used Apply Image to add more luminosity from the red channel in the sky, and the green channel in the shadows. I used a couple of curves with masks to further tame the sky and open the shadows, and then finished the shadows off with the Shadows/Highlight command. In lab I added magenta to reduce the cyan tinge, restricting it from the clouds with the Blend If sliders to keep them white, and added just a bit more punch to the color. I vignetted slightly to add focus to the center, and added a little local contrast enhancement (high radius/low opacity sharpening) to provide a bit more clarity.)
I agree with above too. I am a big fan of texture and contrasting details. You captured a doozy here. I would loved to have tried a graduated ND to see if more definition from the sky could be brought out without losing all the great colors and textured of the lower third. The ND would be a challenge though due to how much the mountain peak protrudes up into the upper third. I often play with more filters on site if the good lighting persist long enough to do that. I know you can get the same effect basically by using graduated tools on P.S. an L.R. but I like to see what I can do in the field. This is a great shot and I would like to take a trip. Where is this location?
I agree with John too. (And with Ken - when IS the class, John?) I think I would lighten the shadows even a bit more. This is a very good comp and I really like the subject.
Well... What everybody said! Bruce, this image has knockout potential. There's a lot of color in there to bring up and detail to bring out.
Another vote for John to have a class for us!
Discussion
7 repliesI desperately try to take the photo in the best lighting possible, but often find that for various reasons I can't. If I am forced to take a photo in less than ideal conditions, I usually try and ask "What did the light force on me that I don't like, and how can I change it?" For me, the main problem in this photo is the bright sky mixed with the deep shadows of the foreground. In addition the color of the sky seems a little off; to my eye it seems to be more cyan than blue. (My monitor is really aging, so hopefully the calibration is holding true.) The color is an easy fix, but the light takes some work, especially if you want to avoid halos.
I'm a fan (maybe disciple would be a better noun?) of Dan Margulis, and his new book "Modern Photoshop Color Workflow" has some great tools for attacking problems like this. I'm still exploring some of his techniques, and hope to use them a lot in the future.
Anyway, I took a spin 5-minute spin in Photoshop with your photo, and with your permission I'll post it here. It's a quick and dirty version, but hopefully conveys the direction I would head if I spent some time on the photo. Having the raw to work with really helps for these photos that need to move a long way (even better for my processing style is to have to versions with one properly exposed for the highlights and one for the shadows), but this should at least give an idea.
(For this version, I used Apply Image to add more luminosity from the red channel in the sky, and the green channel in the shadows. I used a couple of curves with masks to further tame the sky and open the shadows, and then finished the shadows off with the Shadows/Highlight command. In lab I added magenta to reduce the cyan tinge, restricting it from the clouds with the Blend If sliders to keep them white, and added just a bit more punch to the color. I vignetted slightly to add focus to the center, and added a little local contrast enhancement (high radius/low opacity sharpening) to provide a bit more clarity.)
I look forward to others' thoughts as well.
Another vote for John to have a class for us!