see below...

Pretty impressive stuff all around here. I love the dynamic qualities of the image. Awesome from front to back. I agree, that's about as much exposure range as I've ever seen in one shot. Still though, I think the sun itself should be white not yellow to convey the brightness there to the viewer. That's about the only adjustment I'd make.

Gahhhhh! You're totally right Marc. I was trying too hard to keep any highlights from being blown out, and I overdid it on the sun. A page refresh should show the fixed version, slightly less yellow, more brighty bright shining fun, but the large will still have the yellow.

Thanks for catching that.

I don't suppose anyone notices the play on words with the title? Any metal fans on this site?

This is beautiful Nicolaus! What an excellent blend, great work. No nits for me.

There are so many good elements in this image that I'd print it super large! Great job Nicolaus.

Wow Nicolaus,everything came together so beauitfully here. You did a great job on your presentation. I wish there were a few clouds in the upper right hand corner,other then that gorgeous image.

Yeah Kyle, I feel the same way. I had to include that small waterfall though. Without it, the scene would not have had that blamo vision I was going for. ;]

Beautiful scene. You've pulled off a very difficult exposure and nicely so. Love everything about this image.

Very nice result for these not easy conditions.

Congrats

D&L

Hi Nicolaus,

Something strange happened to me with your photo, I was captured by the sun, the sky, the mountains, the valley, rocks and water and I was thinking "how nice" when I discovered the waterfall. Then I said "OMG it even has a waterfall" I think this is an out of the world scene captured in a fantastic way with excellent light.

Hats off!

Luis

Nicolaus, I think the mid part of the image could use a little more contrast or darkening. Other than that, great job with this one. Congrats.

Gorgeous image of wonderful elements. Contrast is a very subjective thing and I would add back just a little midtone contrast. Still, excellent processing.

Beautiful place and nicely captured. I wouldn't mind if the shadows were a bit darker. Those marmots are pretty sneaky. I had to wrestle one on top of Clouds Rest one morning when it tried to eat a hole in my pack.

Beautiful light, color and scenery captured here. The large version really pulls the viewer in.

Nicolaus,

This is really nice and shows very well what can be done with digital when it is done right.

Incredible scene and you've definitely got it all here. I agree that some judicious darkening of some the lighter mid-tones would really make this sing.

I want to be right there, right now!

Beautiful...brings back many fond memories of the Big Horns when I was a kid growing up in Wyoming.

Seems more contrast/darkness is needed in most of my images. ;]

Thomas, trust me, I feel the same way and was just there yesterday. Luckily though, I'll be heading back up in two days to a wild and remote area below Blacktooth and Woolsey, and then again the next week to Lost Twin Lakes, and then again the week after to Cloud Peak Glacier. Lots of fun.

Wanna share with us the metal band--cause i havent heard the title before and i love metal?

Anyhow, fantastic shot! No dust spots or anything OK, i hate to say anything critical about this pic cause its so cool....but, this could be an absolutely prize-winning killer shot...IF you spend as much time as it takes to get the blend right (take a year if thats what it takes--the shot is worth it ). The main thing it needs is darkening the lights--use TK's masks or the equivalent. The non-sunlit portions of this image need to be as dark as possible without being scary looking. Basically more midtone contrast, as others mentioned. Congrats on a great capture!

Oh--forgot to mention, i saw a marmot once in the Sangre De Cristo Range that was literally the size of a large dog--you would not want to wrestle it!

Nicolaus, my first thought was, "Incredible". This is one of those scenes that encompass more than one could dream for. Amazing. I would wish though, as others have mentioned- for a little more darkness in the midtones especially. Great job. Well worth any more effort it takes.

darken the light area a bit and you have a winner. really good processing by the way. it has a lot of stuff to look at, but still i like it

Looks like I'll have to give this another shot sometime. I will go ahead and darken those non sunny areas a bit. Thanks again for the critiques.

Ah, and Stan, the band is Iwrestledabearonce. Check out 'Tastes Like Kevin Bacon', 'See You In Shell', or 'Danger In the Manger'...heck almost anything they play is pretty funny. It's like nothing you've probably heard before. Female singer, and she has more deep range than most dudes do. No joke. She also has a very melodic voice when she uses it.

Wild stuff, Nick, just wild! Nice job processing--must have been a bear!

Mark Capurso
Phoenix, AZ

Beautiful colors but there is sooo much going on here. I think I would have tried to simplify it a little.

Well - are those angels I hear singing? This really has the feel that something spectacular is about to happen. Amazing light. So amazing that I'm not sure I am able to buy that this is as seen by the human eye. But I'm quite willing to suspend any disbelief and enjoy the image. The light of the sun in the distant clouds is especially cool.

Walt, sometimes you have to look for the order within the chaos. ;]

Julia, this is most definitely an artistic representation. But I actually think the human eye can pick up a greater dynamic range than even this. However, this image is most definitely not exactly what it looked like. It was cooler than anything I could ever possibly capture with a camera. Not only was the unfolding scene amazing to behold, but the sound of falls (there are a series of them all the way up the side of this mountain), the smell of the lupines and other wild flowers, the wind blowing through the valley all added to it. A truly amazing experience for my wife and I to witness. And no one around but us.

Splendid landscape image, somehow otherwordly, definitely artistic and interpreted, I like it a lot. Excellent !