Hi everyone! Yesterday, I returned from a 20.6 mile one night backpacking trip into a remote, off-trail region of Rocky Mountain National Park. I've been wanting to photograph the Hague Creek valley all summer and finally made it happen this weekend. It's a wonderful and narrow river valley surrounded on all sides by peaks above 12 and 13 thousand feet. Although I arrived too late to photograph the lakes I had hoped to, I still managed to capture an image from the valley where I camped. After carrying my camera and tripod up and down more than 6,000 feet of elevation, I figure it's worth sharing.
Thanks again to all of you for helping me solve my very VERY novice blending issue a few weeks ago. This time, I blended two exposures - one at ISO 100 f/11 .6 seconds for the foreground and another at ISO 100 f/11 1/3 of a second for the sky and distant Hagues Peak. I think it worked decently this time!
Does anyone have thoughts on sharpening? I realized when I exported this image for NPN that leaving the pixels per inch at 75 produced a much sharper image than using 300. Any other thoughts on sharpening I should consider? Sometimes I feel like my images are very soft when viewed online. I only increase the sharpening slightly in Lightroom and then export with "sharpen for screen" set to high. I'm sure there is more I could do. Thanks!
Posted by Tom Stermitz on July 24, 2014 at 9:19 AM
For my taste, the sharpening is too high where the peaks meet the sky. I try to make sure any of these high-contrast edges don't really look like they've been sharpened. Maybe decrease the radius in the sharpening area.
The resolution shouldn't make a difference when rescaling for NPN. On screen, the whole image (all the pixels) is displayed, and the screen sets the resolution. If your images look soft, it could be contrast; try increasing the clarity slider. Again, like using cayenne, you want to season to taste, not overwhelm the taste buds.
Posted by Sarah Marino on July 24, 2014 at 3:53 PM
This looks like a gorgeous place, Crystal. Everything comes together quite nicely and the light on the peaks with stormy skies is wonderful.
I agree about the transition from the peaks to the sky looking over-sharpened. After messing with trying to get the manual settings right when sharpening for web and never liking the results, I started using Tony Kuyper's sharpening action that comes with his luminosity masks and action panel. I am very happy with the results and it completely automates the process. If you have not checked out his resources, they are excellent or processing landscape photographs and the sharpening action comes along as a little bonus.
Gorgeous location and lovely image, Crystal. I also agree about the sharpening along the ridge. Another suggestion, if I may: Nik Sharpener Pro. I've been using it for 3 or 4 years and love it. Easy to use, powerful and delivers great results without much fuss.
Posted by Jack Brauer on July 25, 2014 at 10:51 AM
Nice shot! I like the shadow at the top of the peak, and the colors reflected in the creek.
Posted by Anne K. Rusk on July 25, 2014 at 6:23 PM
The blend looks good, Crystal! Beautiful colors and I like the added pebbles in the creek to balance the reflection. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Crystal, I'm glad you managed to get in here. I was looking down on this basin during the past few days and dreaming of getting back there. It was on my agenda, but the challenges of life got in the way. I imagine that it was pretty wet and marshy down there near the river. How bad was it? I was thinking that September might be a better time to hike the valley. I normally stay high and only drop down briefly to get across it on the way to the Saddle.
You did an excellent job with both the composition and exposure. There are very few hints that this is a blended image. Your skills are rapidly improving. My only nit is the one you mentioned, sharpening. You need to pull back on this a little, particularly around the rocks in the stream. Otherwise, this is very very well done! I also appreciate the great effort that was involved in getting here. Well done!
Crystal, nice job on the blend, it looks very natural. I also like the reflected color on the stream, and nice light up on the peaks. Just iron out the sharpening issues mentioned and it's a winner.
Posted by Darren Huski on July 28, 2014 at 7:57 PM
Great shot!
Posted by Doug Koepsel on July 29, 2014 at 10:58 AM
The golden reflection off the stream is very nice, as is the composition. I wonder if you can get the two left side bright spots in the cloud to look like the center spot's brightness.
Thank you all for your suggestions! I will adjust the sharpening. Sarah - thanks for the tip about Tony Kuyper's actions, I've been wanting to purchase them for awhile. Erik - I was so glad to make it into the valley! I've always wondered about it and have admired your photos of the area. It was very marshy! Thankfully, for this photo, I found about two feet of dry bank to photograph from so that I did not have to stand in the marsh.
Nice shot, Crystal! I really need to explore RMNP more... Processing looks pretty good to me. Im not sure about the immediate fg, the texture is nice but there's not much happening--I might crop some off the bottom.
Posted by Kurt Bowman on August 1, 2014 at 9:10 PM
I really like the comp on this and agree with others about the sharpening suggestions....BTW...another user of NIK sharpening and it is excellent in every way.
Discussion
13 repliesThanks again to all of you for helping me solve my very VERY novice blending issue a few weeks ago. This time, I blended two exposures - one at ISO 100 f/11 .6 seconds for the foreground and another at ISO 100 f/11 1/3 of a second for the sky and distant Hagues Peak. I think it worked decently this time!
Does anyone have thoughts on sharpening? I realized when I exported this image for NPN that leaving the pixels per inch at 75 produced a much sharper image than using 300. Any other thoughts on sharpening I should consider? Sometimes I feel like my images are very soft when viewed online. I only increase the sharpening slightly in Lightroom and then export with "sharpen for screen" set to high. I'm sure there is more I could do. Thanks!
The resolution shouldn't make a difference when rescaling for NPN. On screen, the whole image (all the pixels) is displayed, and the screen sets the resolution. If your images look soft, it could be contrast; try increasing the clarity slider. Again, like using cayenne, you want to season to taste, not overwhelm the taste buds.
I agree about the transition from the peaks to the sky looking over-sharpened. After messing with trying to get the manual settings right when sharpening for web and never liking the results, I started using Tony Kuyper's sharpening action that comes with his luminosity masks and action panel. I am very happy with the results and it completely automates the process. If you have not checked out his resources, they are excellent or processing landscape photographs and the sharpening action comes along as a little bonus.
You did an excellent job with both the composition and exposure. There are very few hints that this is a blended image. Your skills are rapidly improving. My only nit is the one you mentioned, sharpening. You need to pull back on this a little, particularly around the rocks in the stream. Otherwise, this is very very well done! I also appreciate the great effort that was involved in getting here. Well done!