After spending longer than I'd like on this blend, I think it's time to throw it up here for some fresh eyes to take a look. This was shot Saturday morning at Monument Valley. It was one of the better sunrises I've seen, so I consider myself pretty lucky to have been where I was. This is a blend of two shots and I would appreciate any C&C on the image. I think I've looked at it too long to judge for myself anymore!
man, I think this is pretty friggin nice....I couldn't offer any criticism that wouldn't be totally nitpicking...the blend looks nice...and it works all around....well done!
I have to agree with Jeffrey that it looks a bit over-cooked with a tad too much contrast. For example, the dark parts of the foreground bush are blocked up, especially relative to the rest of the bush. Same for the small amount of deep shadow under the foreground rock.
Controlling the sky exposure (GND or two exposures?) has left you with mittens properly exposed at their base and too dark toward the top.
Lastly, pointing your wide angle downward has introduced a small but noticeable amount of divergence in the east and west mittens. They tilt outward.
The good news is that all of these things are fixable. Perspective control in PS to fix the tilt; less contrast; greater care in evening out the two halves of the exposure. It's a fantastic capture and I wish like heck I could have been there myself. Well worth some additional effort to make it absolutely magic!!
Stunning shot. I agree with Jeffrey and Derek. The perspective is very cool. It needs to be "de-fished" a bit. Perhaps a reblend of the shot will even out the exposure. I'm bothered more by the perspective than anything else. Such an epic shot, just a little massage, and off to print.
D. von Briesen wrote:
I have to agree with Jeffrey that it looks a bit over-cooked with a tad too much contrast. For example, the dark parts of the foreground bush are blocked up, especially relative to the rest of the bush. Same for the small amount of deep shadow under the foreground rock.
Controlling the sky exposure (GND or two exposures?) has left you with mittens properly exposed at their base and too dark toward the top.
Lastly, pointing your wide angle downward has introduced a small but noticeable amount of divergence in the east and west mittens. They tilt outward.
The good news is that all of these things are fixable. Perspective control in PS to fix the tilt; less contrast; greater care in evening out the two halves of the exposure. It's a fantastic capture and I wish like heck I could have been there myself. Well worth some additional effort to make it absolutely magic!!...Show more →
Derek,
Thanks for the great feedback. I think what I did on this one is too many little adjustments that just ended up pushing things over the top. I agree about the contrast and am going back to play with the layers on it. I didn't notice the perspective of the mittens, but will look at that as well. The blending just had me going crazy too, trying to get the mittens just right. I knew I needed some more work on the top parts, but thought I'd post to see how it looked to you all.
Again, thanks for the feedback. Can't wait to see those Grand Canyon shots of yours. I stopped by for a quick peek over the rim on Sunday on my way back from Page. I'm jealous at how much you must have seen there.
Thanks to everyone else as well. That's why I post on FM, you get some great eyes looking at these shots. I will work on this one and repost, either on this thread or on a seperate MV thread with more work.
If anyone else has any additional thoughts, please express them.
Good luck Todd. It's a fantastic capture and with some work will be a proud wallhanger huge!!
Something I learned way back mixing music is that after hours of final mixing the best thing you can do is to walk away for an hour or so and come back and see if it still sounds "right." More often than not, I'd come back and listen aghast at what I thought was "da bomb" an hour before!!
Same holds true for post processing images. Hours in the dark and your eyes will begin to fool you. They will tell you that almost anything you've done looks "natural!" Only with a bit of a break, will you begin to regain perspective. This is especially true with HDR!!
D. von Briesen wrote:
Good luck Todd. It's a fantastic capture and with some work will be a proud wallhanger huge!!
Something I learned way back mixing music is that after hours of final mixing the best thing you can do is to walk away for an hour or so and come back and see if it still sounds "right." More often than not, I'd come back and listen aghast at what I thought was "da bomb" an hour before!!
Same holds true for post processing images. Hours in the dark and your eyes will begin to fool you. They will tell you that almost anything you've done looks "natural!" Only with a bit of a break, will you begin to regain perspective. This is especially true with HDR!! ...Show more →
Yeah, I know what you mean. I usually do it, but just decided to post and see what you all thought. I just posted an edit that I think looks a lot better. I adjusted the perspective and used some levels adjustments to bring up the shadows a little. I also reblended some more on the buttes themselves. Hopefully this looks better. I definitely want to get this shot right since it was such a great scene to see in person. Thanks again Derek.
First off, what a cool looking sunrise! That is some awesome color you got there, and with snow too? Way to go!
I agree with the things Derek said, it's almost like you need a cross between #1 and #2. One thought for you as you blend the mittens in, the west mitten, you may want to look at darkening the base of it just a little bit, so that you won't have to brighten the top part as much, that way you won't have to deal with halo'ing as much.
I do second Derek's tip about using the Warp tool to transform perspective issues, I have been doing that a lot lately. If it's just an horizon issue I will usually use the Lens Correction filter, but that Warp tool is very very powerful!
Oh man! Even with the above comments, and I agree with 'em, I still think this is a cool shot. Especially as I hope the weather and roads may let me be tempted to go there in a couple days.
This had to be a wonderful sight to behold!!
Thanks,
It looks a bit over the top for me, but I probably would have done the same thing. I agree with the comments about Mitten distortion, though. For me, the rock and bush don't add a thing to the image. The light is a bit confusing, too; how did the snow get so bright with the backlighting here?
But if I don't think about it too much it is an eye-catching image.
