p.1 #1 · Looking for componsition and post processing feedback
Long way home through mountains, we stopped at a rest area for supper. Just off the road there was this incredible view of slopes lit by the settings sun. I positioned my camera that the sun was behind the trees on the hill so not to blind it.
I am sure I didn't do full justice to the view, but I'd like to believe I was able to tease out at least some of the magic. What do you think?
First image is the original off the camera, converted from raw to jpg and resized.
p.1 #2 · Looking for componsition and post processing feedback
Malka_1 wrote:
Long way home through mountains, we stopped at a rest area for supper. Just off the road there was this incredible view of slopes lit by the settings sun. I positioned my camera that the sun was behind the trees on the hill so not to blind it.
I am sure I didn't do full justice to the view, but I'd like to believe I was able to tease out at least some of the magic. What do you think?
First image is the original off the camera, converted from raw to jpg and resized.
Second is mine after processing and recomposing....Show more →
p.1 #3 · Looking for componsition and post processing feedback
I like the crop and composition of your edit and the mood of the layered mountain landscape. Lifting the shadows in the foreground foliage creates a much more welcoming entry into the scene.
I see you have also warmed up the tones, but I am still missing the “magic” of a sun setting behind the trees.
I wasn’t there so I am wondering if that is the sky you saw, because I have some difficulty connecting with that sky for lack of data.
If you can't recover any data of the sky in PP, you may want to use some artistic liberty and try to replace the sky with one close to the one you saw. But that is your own personal decision.
p.1 #5 · Looking for componsition and post processing feedback
Malka_1 wrote:
Long way home through mountains, we stopped at a rest area for supper. Just off the road there was this incredible view of slopes lit by the settings sun. I positioned my camera that the sun was behind the trees on the hill so not to blind it.
I am sure I didn't do full justice to the view, but I'd like to believe I was able to tease out at least some of the magic. What do you think?
First image is the original off the camera, converted from raw to jpg and resized.
Second is mine after processing and recomposing....Show more →
I would have cropped it a bit differently. Also, not a fan of sky replacements and as the sky is completely blown out, how about a B&W conversion? Something likes these, in color and B&W?
Sreedhar
p.1 #6 · Looking for componsition and post processing feedback
Malka_1 wrote:
..... Just off the road there was this incredible view of slopes lit by the settings sun. ...
I am sure I didn't do full justice to the view, but I'd like to believe I was able to tease out at least some of the magic. What do you think?
.......
Back to the original intention....
It seems that there was an incredible view of slopes lit by the setting sun and you wanted to emphasize that. Well, there are golden colors on the distant slopes. That may hold great memories but at least for me, nothing looks incredible. The blown out sky does not do much for showing a setting sun, if that was part of your intention.
What I see is emphasis on the clump of trees. They are in a strong compositional position and the leading lines of the hillsides add to the emphasis. Based on that I would consider cropping out about the upper half of the image.
Regarding the original incredible view, I think that was lost due to the exposure and the high contrast. I am only guessing based on your statements and what I see remaining. Not having been there it is also hard to understand what might have been and how your intention should have been captured. It can take a lot of experience to convey our intentions in photographs and there is often no short explanation possible of how that should have been done.
p.1 #7 · Looking for componsition and post processing feedback
Appreciate everyone's feedback!
The image I worked on was a LR HDR merge from 5 exposure-bracketed images, with some of the highlights clipped. I found another set with a picture that had no clipping at the lowest exposure, and used that single image to redo editing.
A few masks, for sky, trees, foreground. Recovered some complexity in the sky - color, a bit of a cloud and the glow around the tree clump.
I got it as close as I can to what I "think" I saw then - it's been a few weeks now.
I tried BW preset too - the textured one seems to work best as it compensates somewhat for uniformity of the sky.
p.1 #9 · Looking for componsition and post processing feedback
Shasoc wrote:
I like the crop and composition of your edit and the mood of the layered mountain landscape. Lifting the shadows in the foreground foliage creates a much more welcoming entry into the scene.
I see you have also warmed up the tones, but I am still missing the “magic” of a sun setting behind the trees.
I wasn’t there so I am wondering if that is the sky you saw, because I have some difficulty connecting with that sky for lack of data.
If you can't recover any data of the sky in PP, you may want to use some artistic liberty and try to replace the sky with one close to the one you saw. But that is your own personal decision.
I found the image that I used to recover the sky data, but may still be "blah" - but that's what it was, for the most part. There was more glow around the trees but I couldn't get more of it to show.
p.1 #10 · Looking for componsition and post processing feedback
guywithgas wrote:
I would have cropped it a bit differently. Also, not a fan of sky replacements and as the sky is completely blown out, how about a B&W conversion? Something likes these, in color and B&W?
Sreedhar
How would you crop it? I posted the original for that reason - to see what others may spot that I didn't.
p.1 #11 · Looking for componsition and post processing feedback
Camperjim wrote:
Back to the original intention....
It seems that there was an incredible view of slopes lit by the setting sun and you wanted to emphasize that. Well, there are golden colors on the distant slopes. That may hold great memories but at least for me, nothing looks incredible. The blown out sky does not do much for showing a setting sun, if that was part of your intention.
What I see is emphasis on the clump of trees. They are in a strong compositional position and the leading lines of the hillsides add to the emphasis. Based on that I would consider cropping out about the upper half of the image.
Regarding the original incredible view, I think that was lost due to the exposure and the high contrast. I am only guessing based on your statements and what I see remaining. Not having been there it is also hard to understand what might have been and how your intention should have been captured. It can take a lot of experience to convey our intentions in photographs and there is often no short explanation possible of how that should have been done. ...Show more →
It was probably both - the slopes and the tree hill - that I saw and tried to take home. I knew the image had fallen short of my vision, thus the post - perhaps there was still a way to salvage it. Glad I did because it pointed me to the sky and the ways to fix it. The revised version may not win any awards, but it's better now than before and good enough to include in my trip album.
I get your point about conveying intentions - it's a struggle. Hit or miss for me right now, and it's not always clear why a miss.
p.1 #12 · Looking for componsition and post processing feedback
Camperjim wrote:
This is one of the few instances with very high contrast where I would have done exposure bracketing and composite or hdr processing.
Interesting you mention that - I have been finding that A7V has wide enough dynamic range that what I usually need is not HDR but the right exposure. I keep merging anyway and 90% of the time end up using a single image. Bracketing is super useful, but to give me a choice of exposures to take home, if I am not sure or don't have time to calibrate on site.
p.1 #13 · Looking for componsition and post processing feedback
Malka_1 wrote:
How would you crop it? I posted the original for that reason - to see what others may spot that I didn't.
See my b&w version above, what do you think?
"How would you crop it?" - I used your original photo and cropped it in such a way that the tree lines in the center of your OP comes at that bottom third on the left (rule of thirds). Reason for that was, even though there is a lot of foreground elements, it felt a bit too much for me.
Your black & white conversion, I feel it is a bit on the darker side overall. My vision to convert it B&W was like this. Have layers of light-dark-light-dark from foreground to background. Hope it makes sense. Again, your photo, your vision. You are ultimate judge of how your final edit needs to be.
Overall, I like the latest version of your color edit. Apparently, it seems there is not a lot in the sky, and we can't do much with it. I am not into "sky replacements" and would have edited the way you edited it the second time around.
p.1 #14 · Looking for componsition and post processing feedback
Malka_1 wrote:
Appreciate everyone's feedback!
The image I worked on was a LR HDR merge from 5 exposure-bracketed images, with some of the highlights clipped. I found another set with a picture that had no clipping at the lowest exposure, and used that single image to redo editing.
A few masks, for sky, trees, foreground. Recovered some complexity in the sky - color, a bit of a cloud and the glow around the tree clump.
I got it as close as I can to what I "think" I saw then - it's been a few weeks now.
I tried BW preset too - the textured one seems to work best as it compensates somewhat for uniformity of the sky. ...Show more →
I agree. That single exposure will give you some data you can work with to squeeze a sky close to what you saw. I believe you can still get some more color from that sky. I tried some editing on the image you posted and there is more space to get more data (I still like the original crop, though). I wasn't there so I am just guessing. You should be able to get better results working with the raw data. Keep trying.
If you are going for the B&W version I wouldn't include much of the sky since you may end up with a big white area with no information. I would rather include more of the foreground and crop some of the sky out. Just a suggestion. Your decision.
p.1 #15 · Looking for componsition and post processing feedback
Malka_1 wrote:
I got it as close as I can to what I "think" I saw then - it's been a few weeks now.
Late to the party ... but, going back to Jim's "intent" ... in some regard, we can "record" what we thought we "saw". But, then there's the point about what was it that you wanted to "say".
By that, I'll segue to the "telephone game" ...
Imagine you're standing there and you call your BFF. "Hey Bestie ... I so wish you were here. It is so _______ . The _______ was ______. There's this ____ . And, the ______ is so cool. Then, there's this, then there's that, and oh yeah, this other thing too. It felt so _____. "
Whatever that conversation might look like (make one up on your mind), will give you cues and clues to what it is you REALLY want to SAY about, what you "saw". That can be an indicator of how you might proceed with your processing decisions.
Point being, was the sky or the foreground grasses what you FIRST talked about with your friend. Was it the grove of trees, the shape of the slope, or the layering of the slope. As the aspects of the conversation are weighted from First to Last, that can be a strong cue on what it is you want your processing decisions to "say".
That said ... what does your "conversation" with your BFF say? Getting the "magic" to happen will be in line with processing toward what it is you would be MOST EXCITED to tell your BFF about. Say it out loud, and listen to what you are saying. That can be a key to recognizing what your "Magic" message is gonna be (for you).
I'll wait to hear your conversation with your BFF, then chime in a bit more after that.
