p.1 #1 · Waking up with the gods... (Orig Images on 3rd page)
in Garden of the Gods that is! Here is a sunrise shot from last Sunday Morning. It required getting up at 3am so as to get to there in time, but it was well worth losing a bit of sleep. I have a few shots where there was some cool color in the clouds, but for this composition it was about the sun breaking the horizon and the golden glow it cast on the rocks.
I also used only ACR in processing the raw shot. I typically use Nikons Capture NX2 for raw processing, but decided to test out just using ACR to see how it handled the D800 files. This shot is a single shot, having the great dynamic range of the D800 makes it so much easier to process. The only blending I did was around the sun star, as I took 2 shots of this, one with the sun star and one where I poked my finger in front of my lens to block the sun and prevent sun flaring all over the rest of the image. It really makes for a cleaner image that way.
p.1 #5 · Waking up with the gods... (Orig Images on 3rd page)
roguecoolman wrote:
Jim,
Stop flaunting your single shot D800! Some of us still have to bracket
Very nice photo! I've never been this park, is that mountain the main attraction?
Jason
Ha ha... thanks Jason!
As for Garden of the Gods it has quite a few of these rock structures scattered throughout the park. This area is inside the main loop road and it has quite a few of these cool looking rocks. This one is called Cathedral Rock or Gray Rock. This is viewing it from the side. If you saw it from 90 degrees either way you wouldn't even recognize it from this shot as it's actually quite long. But I like it from this angle the best, it's where it takes on it's Cathedral Rock name.
p.1 #9 · Waking up with the gods... (Orig Images on 3rd page)
I haven't figured out how to effectively process the sun star yet, and this makes me want to keep at it. I really like the right hand cloud making the rock look like a smokestack, but wish that it wasn't peaking out on the left side of the rock. Then again, you probably would've lost the nice light and sun star if you had waited.
p.1 #15 · Waking up with the gods... (Orig Images on 3rd page)
great composition Jim! looks like a great spot.
however, this feels like it has a bit too much of that muddy/hdr feel to it. not a fan of the single shot processing. the sky and clouds just dont look right. not sure if there is much to be done but that just my opinion
p.1 #20 · Waking up with the gods... (Orig Images on 3rd page)
Fantastic shot Jim. Really like the composition, and especially the fact that you took the time to determine the most attractive/dramatic angle of the rock to photograph it from.
Is there any way you could post the 2 original files with your finger in the shot, as well as the sunstar by itself (or small crops of each)? Ive been trying my hand at doing this but I find I can never quite paint the sunstar back in without bringing an orange tint/cast with it in the surrounding the area. It seems you have this same problem, but you have controled it a lot better and it is hardly noticeable. Would this be avoided if I painted a lot more precisely over the star area?
