I thought I would try something a little different. I would like to hear your thoughts on this B+W of tunnel view in Yosemite. Updates/reworks great to post as long as you tell me what you did. Thank you! - Paul
I was playing with a gold-n-blue polarizer and regular polarizer to see if it might have an impact on the black and white images. Just fun to expirement.
Tack sharp image, and the fog along the ground really draws the eye down into the valley. I agree that the shadows on either side are a little too overbearing.
+1 @ others ... might like to have seen a bit more contrast (different version @ natural or other polarizer maybe) @ clouds to help frame the tunnel above half dome a bit more. Not as contrasty as the foreground, but something slightly more than shown to provide a distinction of where sky starts.
It is a nice shot compositionally but a single digital capture can't match the dynamic range and magic the same scene captured on B&W film. The scene range exceeds camera range and the only way to get around that limitation is bracketed HDR exposure blended together.
It's the type of scene were just shooting twice on a tripod with one exposure for highlights just under clipping and another shot with a shutter speed 3-4 stops slower could be manually blended with mask on the longer exposure to reveal the shadow detail that is missing from the first due to the more limited range of the camera.
With the single exposure you might go back to the RAW file and make two copies and manipulate the contrast in one the similarly to pull more shadow detail out then blend the same way selectively. But unlike the longer camera exposure you'll wind up just amplifying the noise in the darkest areas. But a B&W conversion will minimize how distracting that becomes.
Thank you Weissj. I appreciate the comments. I agree on the shadows. It is good to hear similair feedback from several of you as it helps reinforce it.
RustyBug, Some good advice there. I do need to see how I can better distinguish half dome from the sky. This is one of many shots from this spot, so I should have others that may work better.
Karen, Thanks on the halo tip. It is a downsize, USM issue.
Chuck, You are spot on the dynamic range part. I have a couple panos that I shot with multiple stops. I haven't pulled those in to see how they came out yet. I stopped here a couple times, I don't remember if I did that when the environs came together like this or not.
Bob, thank you for showing your rework. It helps show what the others are talking about as well. I appreciate that you explained your changes as well.
Thank you all. I really appreciate the critiques. I have a lot of images from this spot. I will probably post a couple more as time permits and see what you guys think.
