Earlier this months I had the opportunity to hike into the Subway, a very narrow section of a canyon in the Zion National Park in southern Utah. Here are a few pictures.
Subway is a fantastic place to visit. It looks like there is quite a bit of sand back in there this year --- similar to 2 years ago. Typically, that pool is much deeper. Your compositions look good, but I think you cranked the shadow recovery too high. You're missing some of the wonderful shadow tone in this section of canyon, and the images are a bit too heavy on the mid tone. Don't be afraid to show some wonderfully rich dark tone --- that's what builds drama in images, and it really is quite dark back in there.
You got some pretty cool shots here. I like what you came away with. As to the shadows, I could see the shadows being a bit darker. I think I would adjust the contrast to do that. But not too much darker... just a hair more.
Thanks for your feedback, I really appreciate your responses and you guys got me thinking about the pictures a lot.
When we walked in the Subway it was already pretty late in the day (> 5PM) and the light was pretty dim. As a consequence, I bracketed all pictures and what I presented here are 5-frame HDRs. Well, I learnt my lesson and went back to the individual shots. Here is what I found. I like these much better. Thanks for your help. Michael
