Here are a few more from my trip to Glacier, all still shot on Swiftcurrent Lake. What a view. Maybe it was the fact that we had our first sunny days of our entire 2 week trip right when we got here, or maybe it was just the incredible scenery, but I really loved this scenery.
The first shot is dusk on the day we arrived, form a 3 exposure bracketed series that was made into an HDR. The teal water was just as striking in person.
Spectacular set, Mikey! Really love all 3 (my only nit is also Mike's). Excellent work to make the 1st and 3rd not look like HDR!!
Gorgeous scenery indeed!!
Love them all. Along with vibhav's suggestions on #1. The colors of #2 are beautiful. The fog enhances greatly the image. But #2 still looks great with or without it IMHO.
Tung
#3 is great, would not have guessed it was HDR, nice work on the processing. #2 is real nice too, only nitpick is I might like to see some more detail in the dark shadow area on the left. I spent a couple mornings there last year and got nothing but gloom; going to have to go back one of these days.
Hey, thanks for all the great feedback! Yeah, I actually had meant to try to do something about the overhang in number 1 (either just cropping it out, or maybe trying to clone it out), but when deciding to post these, I got excited and totally forgot about it The issue with the dark area in in #2 is also well taken. I am still really just learning CS4, after having limped along until just recently with only PSE, so I'll have to try to do some PP and see if I can get that area a little more definition. I am encouraged that the HDR treatments are not perceived as having been overdone - I am really trying to go for as natural a result as I can while trying to bring back a little of the dynamic range that my eyes saw in the shot.
I was lucky to have been there with these conditions - it was hard not to get a good shot under these conditions I can't wait to return at some point when the road is fully open (I think next time we'll try to go in the fall).
Thanks again for all the excellent feedback, it is great to get input from some many with so much expertise in landscape shooting.
One suggestion; with posting sizes like this you are sure to have these stolen if you don't watermark them w/ a copyright notice. Even then you can't stop it, but at least you'll slow it down w/ a watermark.
fantastic images. the last one is a killer shot. i'd crop the left portion of the last one. almost half way thru the left most mountain, and to maintain aspect ratio, i'd crop the top portion, just enuf.
Nice use of HDR on the third one - I appreciate it when that technique is used in such a way that rather than drawing attention to itself it simply enhances the quality of the image.
The last shot is my choice from this series. The tones and colors are pleasing as is, but I'm wondering if you can bring out some of those soft pastels even more.
These are among the best HDRs I've seen. Whether the same results could be achieved by blending your three exposures, I can't say. My own luck with HDRs has not been as good, whether I've used Photomatix or Artizen.
Simply beautiful images, all three of them. You've convinced my wife that we have to return to Glacier for our 50th anniversary in 2012.
The HDR in the first is a bit distracting because of the halos. Also, there is IMO too much detail in the shadows, which makes it a bit flat. You have done a nice job with the HDR on the other shots though. The have a rather natural appearance.
#3 is really natural looking and I wouldn't have suspected it was HDR. Great shot on that one and like everyone has suggested, crop or clone out the object on the upper left hand corner for #1.
Wow, thanks for the continued feedback and great suggestions. To answer a previous question, I used Phtomatix for the HDR, and I played with all three approaches it offers; detail enhancement, tone compression, and blending (which I guess they don't really consider HDR). In the case of shots 1 and 3, the detail enhancement approach gave me the versions I liked the best. I have also experimented just a little with HDR in CS4. I am FAR from any sort of a CS4 expert (just really starting to learn it, really), but at least on the auto setting, I much preferred what I got from Photomatix. I am sure someone with better CS4 chops could likely do better than I was achieving. Shot 1 is somewhat bordering on overdone; as pointed out there are a few halo issues. I will likely try a little more work with it as well as eliminating the edge of the roof of the hotel from the left. To hear that #3 does not look like an HDR is exactly what I was hoping for Thanks everyone, for the continued feedback
The issue with the dark area in in #2 is also well taken. I am still really just learning CS4, after having limped along until just recently with only PSE, so I'll have to try to do some PP and see if I can get that area a little more definition. I am encouraged that the HDR treatments are not perceived as having been overdone - I am really trying to go for as natural a result as I can while trying to bring back a little of the dynamic range that my eyes saw in the shot.
I had not thought of that. Is there some watermark software you would recommend?