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Archive 2013 · Sequoia National Park, California

  
 
Arob1000
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Sequoia National Park, California


I went on an amazing backpacking trip to Sequoia National Park for 2 nights this past weekend. I spent the first night at Panther Peak and the second night at Pear Lake, both were equally stunning. I was worried the air quality would be very poor due to the fires ravaging the Western United States and the Sierra Nevadas. In fact there was a 2,000 acre fire only 20 miles south of where I was and you can actually see it in one of my photos. Luckily it was really nice and only slightly hazy when looking to the south.

I'd appreciate any and all CC and I hope you all enjoy the pics!

#1

Fish Fire by Arob1000, on Flickr
#2

Sunset In Paridise by Arob1000, on Flickr
#3

Reflection at Pear Lake by Arob1000, on Flickr
#4

First Light at Pear Lake by Arob1000, on Flickr

#5

Pear Lake Panorama by Arob1000, on Flickr


Edited by JimFox on Sep 04, 2013 at 12:09 AM · View previous versions



Sep 03, 2013 at 07:04 PM
Ben Horne
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Sequoia National Park, California


This is definitely a place I would love to check out in the years to come. You have some great scenes here, but I do feel that your processing is a bit too "crunchy" in most of the photos. The highlights are extremely bright and blown out in places, but the shadows are unnaturally dark. If you ease up on the processing and go with a more natural rendition, I think you might have some winners in the mix.


Sep 03, 2013 at 07:16 PM
Arob1000
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Sequoia National Park, California


Thank you Ben, glad you enjoy the shots, it is really a great place to go backpacking, PM me for more information if you're interested.

Thanks for the suggestions for post. #2 is a 7 shot HDR but you're right my processing style can be borderline over the top. As I gain more experience as a photographer I slowly tone down the extent of my processing but some of the reflection shots do look great straight out of camera or with just some basic Lightroom corrections. I processed all of these using Lightroom then Nik Color EFEX Pro.



Sep 03, 2013 at 07:26 PM
Sunny Sra
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Sequoia National Park, California


Very nice comps...the HDR treatment is over the top on these. I think if you kept this a little less garish they would look really nice.


Sep 03, 2013 at 11:34 PM
JimFox
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Sequoia National Park, California


Hey Aaron,

These are some pretty wild shots of a cool place. They are pushed a bit too far for me, I prefer the photos to have a more realistic feel. So #5 is my favorite, as it's the one that looks most realistic. The others either have super saturated colors and/or shadows that are just black with no detail at all.

It's hard to imagine how #2 could be a 7 shot HDR. Even if one was doing HDR, it's hard to see where it would take more than 3 or 4 shots.

If you look at both #3 and 4, the peaks are blown out, but the reflection looks good. Same as the clouds in #4. The exposure should be evened out. Using an ND grad, or a simple layer mask is all that would be needed.

I am not sure why you would need Nik Color Efex on landscape shots. They should hopefully have enough color on themselves. If you were shooting portraits of people, then that's another story.

Jim



Sep 04, 2013 at 01:44 AM
andyjaggy82
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Sequoia National Park, California


I see light halos around some of the areas you have blended? Or something weird going on. I really like #2 but there is something about the clouds that doesn't look quite right.


Sep 04, 2013 at 05:36 PM
Arob1000
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Sequoia National Park, California


Sunny Sra wrote:
Very nice comps...the HDR treatment is over the top on these. I think if you kept this a little less garish they would look really nice.



Thanks for the input!

JimFox wrote:
Hey Aaron,

These are some pretty wild shots of a cool place. They are pushed a bit too far for me, I prefer the photos to have a more realistic feel. So #5 is my favorite, as it's the one that looks most realistic. The others either have super saturated colors and/or shadows that are just black with no detail at all.

It's hard to imagine how #2 could be a 7 shot HDR. Even if one was doing HDR, it's hard to see where it would take more than 3 or 4 shots.

If you look at both #3 and 4, the
...Show more

Thanks a lot for the feedback Jim, I really appreciate it! When I get some time I'll try some other edits toning back the processing a bit.

I'll lower the exposure on the peaks in 3 and 4 as well, I agree with you on that but I still want to emphasize the light hitting the peaks.

As far as #2, I just bracketed a bit more than was necessary but I don't think it detracts from the final shot.




Sep 04, 2013 at 05:41 PM
Arob1000
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Sequoia National Park, California


Here the same 5 photos only edited via Lightroom (no saturation added, just highlights, shadows, contrast, GND filters. I tried to lower the exposure on some of the overexposed peaks but they were unfortunately blown out and I didn't bracket the exposures on these particular shots. However since the reflections aren't blown out I think the photo still works and I like the way the reflection of the sunlight in the water becomes the focal point of the shot.

I usually shoot with ND grads on my camera but since I just got my TS-E 17 and I haven't had the chance to do the Lee Filter Adaptor I didn't have that luxury.

#1 Reprocess

_D3_1661 by Arob1000, on Flickr
#2 Reprocess

_D3_1627-Edit by Arob1000, on Flickr
#3 Reprocess

_D3_1812-Edit by Arob1000, on Flickr
#4 Reprocess

_D3_1825-Edit by Arob1000, on Flickr
#5 Reprocess

_D3_1738-Edit by Arob1000, on Flickr



Sep 04, 2013 at 07:06 PM
Arob1000
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Sequoia National Park, California


Here's another shot I've edited and really like, a HDR but hopefully not overcooked. Even in the early hours of the day it was tough to get the sky from being blown out without ND grads.


Pear Lake by Arob1000, on Flickr



Sep 06, 2013 at 05:07 PM
drown
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Sequoia National Park, California


Nice compositions, I like the more conservative colors in the second set.


May 21, 2014 at 10:38 PM
ADudeOnSkis
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Sequoia National Park, California


drown wrote:
Nice compositions, I like the more conservative colors in the second set.


I agree. Isnt as distracting.

Either way, beautiful.



May 22, 2014 at 02:13 PM
lorirobin57
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Sequoia National Park, California


spectacular



May 26, 2014 at 07:37 PM
alatoo60
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Sequoia National Park, California


I like the re-processing on the first two.
Looks like a great trip with spectacular views!

Sasha.



May 26, 2014 at 07:41 PM
lionking
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Sequoia National Park, California


What a great location!
These have a lot of potential, i have to agree with PP comments...

The reprocessed 1st looks much better to me.

Thank you for sharing.

Andrey



May 27, 2014 at 09:18 AM
Nancy Asquith
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Sequoia National Park, California


I think both versions of #1 are lovely and well composed. It also happens to fit in with the rule of thirds, which generally works well, especially for landscapes (other than mirror landscapes like 4 and 5) in which the sky is an important feature. In #2 I would cut away maybe 40% of the sky to get rid of most of the dark blurry clouds.
The mirror effects in 4 and 5 are lovely, but I confess that I, too, am not a fan of HDR, which looks to me like it was drawn with pen or pencil. But there are plenty of people out there who share your fondness for HDR. So, continue experimenting with suggested changes, but don't let our preferences (prejudices?) discourage you from processing photos in your own style.

Nancy



May 28, 2014 at 12:54 AM
betfair
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Sequoia National Park, California


cool photos.highlights distracts me little


May 28, 2014 at 01:02 AM
jediphorin
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Sequoia National Park, California


#1 i like a lot


May 30, 2014 at 06:01 PM





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