Gift of light part II

Gallery: LandscapePosted February 7, 2012440 views12 comments

This is the image I took just moments after "Gift of light" (I know original title). This is a blend of nine images. Eight images shot at different focal points, and another to blend for dynamic range. I didn't want to take any chances with the light and decided to still use a 3 stop grad ND filter. I'm still learning the blending for DOF thing, but it is catching on. The light on the mountain was really that rich in color, and decided not to really play with it too much. It may be too red for some, but I like rich colors. I wish I could have composed this a little better, but again, with the light the way it was there was no way I was going to miss any shot. Comments and thoughts appreciated.

Canon 7d
Canon 17-40mm @17mm
Nine images @ f8 1/6 sec ISO 100
3 stop grad ND filter
Tripod

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Bill Caldwell on February 7, 2012 at 2:51 PM

Beautiful image! I love the "sharp" foreground and the saturated colors.

Registered on October 10, 2011, 62 Posts, 508 Comments

Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on February 7, 2012 at 3:22 PM

Think the grad line is a bit extreme but damn...sick work w/ the scene. Kudos

aF

Registered on October 26, 2009, 399 Posts, 2789 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on February 7, 2012 at 4:07 PM

Thank you Bill!

Thanks Aaron- Surprisingly, the grad line truly isn't visible here. The way the light was, there was a slight hill that blocked the intense light over the ridge I was shooting providing the dark subtle light over the cacti, and painted everything beyond. I hand held the filter and moved it up and down in half of the images. I can't even imagine what the scene would have looked like in a different spot.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on February 7, 2012 at 4:26 PM

Peter, this is beautiful. The foreground cholla absolutely seem to glow! The colors in the mountains & clouds are sweet as well! Nice work!

Registered on October 29, 2011, 92 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Clothier on February 7, 2012 at 6:15 PM

The bright foreground is throwing this off for me, too much dodging perhaps? Lightening everything above that FG cholla would make this more believable IMO. With some subtle work on the processing this will make a nice print.

Registered on January 28, 2010, 343 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on February 8, 2012 at 12:56 AM

Thanks Zack. No dodging on the bottom, just a bit of burning at 1% opacity with the largest brush. The light was really crazy and nothing looked right even in real life. It was just one of those "had to see it to believe it" moments. I'll try to play around with it, but I was mostly interested in emphasizing the foreground most cholla and the sunlit mountain.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Clothier on February 8, 2012 at 1:05 AM

I was viewing this on my labtop earlier, looking at it now it looks better. I think the mid-ground is still a little dark, maybe you could boost some of the mid-tones there or do some selective dodging on the chollas so the eye can move through the scene more fluidly.

Registered on January 28, 2010, 343 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on February 8, 2012 at 1:11 AM

I will work on it a bit, that mid-ground was a tough cookie with this image.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on February 8, 2012 at 1:18 AM

Here is a repost trying to bring out more of the mid-ground. My biggest concern was the chollas appearing a bit muddy. They shouldn't appear to be in this post

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Clothier on February 8, 2012 at 1:27 AM

The colors seem off in the repost, Peter, did you convert it to sRGB? The FG cholla seems to have lost the glow and the mountains and sky got darker. The mid-ground looks better, now it just needs that nice glow back

Registered on January 28, 2010, 343 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on February 8, 2012 at 12:53 PM

That is some crazy light. I agree a little more balance is needed, but that's a personal preference. I think I would approach it from darkening the foreground to match closer the mid-ground (without darkening too much), and then mounting on a black background to bring out the detail. But, that's just one man's approach. Great color and an excellent comp.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on February 8, 2012 at 4:51 PM

I must have forgotten to convert it, here is another repost that has all of the glow from the first one with a slightly brightened mid-ground

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments