*W/ Repost* Forgotten Capsule

That is an interesting looking foreground there, Jared. Makes for a powerful one-two with that sky. The light/dark in the background/foreground in this one is a throwback to five, maybe more like ten years ago when the ol' grad-line was part of an image like this (which I don't really mind). Today, with all the blending and whatnot though (which it seems you indulged in anyway) I'm thrown off a bit by the almost totally black rocks in the middleground (caused by the reverse grad) and the bright, almost glowing foreground which I'd expect to be receiving only a little more of the actual diffused light. I think I'd prefer a more cohesive transition front to back that would come from blending the whole image and not just 1 stop of it. I actually don't see any reason to blend anything more than 3-4 stops apart in exposure anyway.

Thanks Marc, I never got to participate in the black grad line days, so thought maybe I could make it cool again and bring it back like tight rolled jeans. I guess I prefer a lighter FG to draw viewer in, maybe at the expense of looking a little "unnatural" to the trained eye, but I agree that this is too much and throws off the exposure balance in the image. I'll try to rework this with other exposures I shot and see if I can get something a little more balanced and realistic. I appreciate the feedback!

That is one crazy sky! Quite a mix of colors and textures. Looks like the FG formation is cut off a little- I might have given it a little more space at the bottom. In addition to toning down the FG a tad, the upper right sky looks to be oversaturated, compared to the left portion. Pulling back on the sat. may allow some of the sky detail in this area to show. It would still be mighty colorful.

Regards, Harry

The foreground is a good lead in, however, the rock feature is clipped off a little. The sky on my monitor is awesome as I like the light and dark contrasts. As the others have already noted, the middle of the image especially the dark rocks don't add a lot. Still, the image has a lot to like.

I reprocessed a single shot (w/3 stop Reverse GND) to see if this seems more balanced. Any thoughts on this vs. the first. Thank you again in advance for any feedback.

Also, there was some distracting grass and ugly dirt directly below this shot, that is why I framed as I did with the seeming "cut off" bottom.

I like the sky, but the FG looks a bit bright. The comp is very very engaging

I agree with Marc and the repost is much closer, i would bring the foreground down a little more (1/2 stop) and see if you could pull a little detail out of the dark areas. The comp is killer though and the foreground is a nice find.

Comp is incredible. Repost is awesome. 'Cept for maybe being a tad oversharpened, it looks like a Marc Adamus quality image. Good stuff.

striking image, Jared. I don't think I have ever seen a rock like this, it looks like crab claws. Very cool. agree it feels a bit tight at the bottom. The repost is much better. Excellent work.

Much better, Jared.
It appears that you ever so slightly desaturated the skies, making them seem more natural to my eye.
Repost seems a bit too crisp (oversharpened, but that's a minor fix). Overall, an excellent and unique image!

I much prefer the re-post. The original almost looked like a composite, whereas the later version is more fluid/realistic. Outrageous sky and foreground. Beautiful!

Repost looks sweet. All the elements in this image are about as good as you can get. So much visual complexity and mood distilled down into one powerful and cohesive picture. I would have tried to give the feature at the bottom a bit more room to breathe.

Definitely the repost! I find the cut-off FG bothersome but the rest of this is fantastic! I might have tried to remove the distractions in PP if possible.

Repost is a fantastic improvement!

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Trying to hone in on a more consistent PP method and define my own processing style, which as you can see is a work in progress. Still not happy with the mid portions of this, I don't mind having completely dark areas as the back of the rocks were in extreme shadow, but could pull some more detail out of the shadows to the right using some lum. masks. Also agree about the sharpening John and not content with the sky detail, but it's a start. Thanks again!

This is beautiful, Jared! I definitely prefer the repost. It does look more balanced to me... Love it!

The repost is superb Jared, a true beauty. I too would like a bit more room for that bottom finger of rock, but that's my only minor nit on a great shot!

Excellent comp and the sky is fantastic. Others have already made the suggestions I would. A little more work and this will be a phenomenal image!