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Bluebonnet Sunset
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Bluebonnet Sunset

by Rick Turner

Gallery: LandscapePosted June 18, 2012279 views15 comments
This is my first effort at trying to combine two exposures into one by cut and paste in PS5 instead of with a HDR program. Combined the sky with the foreground and then cloned the horizon a bit to blend. All helpful suggestions will be appreciated.

I raw processed in LR3 two exposures. One for the sunset and one for a saturated bluebonnet foreground.

ISO 320
f 5.6 @ 1/50 sec
70-200 G series Sony zoom @135 mm
PS5 edits

Comments

15 comments
Comment posted by Mark Seaver on June 18, 2012 at 2:38 PM
Rick, this is a beautiful scene and your blending looks fine. I do think that the blue bonnets are either over saturated or over sharpened because of how "jangly" (to use a well defined term) they look. I've also looked at possibly cropping the oof grass off from the bottom, but I really like the shape and eye flow in this as posted.
Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments
Comment posted by Bill Chambers on June 18, 2012 at 3:30 PM
Love the mood captured here! Beautiful color contrast between the terrain and pastel sky. My only nit is with the OOF FG, I might consider cropping that.
Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments
Comment posted by R.Bill Moser on June 18, 2012 at 4:07 PM
The blending looks good. i love the mood you captured here. I consider cropping some of the bottom
Registered on January 29, 2010, 285 Posts, 4281 Comments
Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on June 18, 2012 at 10:09 PM
Looks pretty good, I'd say. Agree that cropping foreground might help this a bit.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments
Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on June 18, 2012 at 10:30 PM
Beautiful shot. At first I thought the Bluebonnets were over the top on saturation, but I can well imagine such a glow at that time of day. Very nice comp. Might consider trimming most of the fg blur, though.
Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments
Comment posted by Michael Anderson on June 19, 2012 at 4:56 PM
Fantastic! The bluebonnets in the foreground take this to another level. What a spectacular scene perfectly exposed and presented.
Registered on January 31, 2006, 228 Posts, 3072 Comments
Comment posted by Scott Smorra on June 19, 2012 at 6:57 PM
Very nice bluebonnet image Rick. I agree with the others about cropping the foreground grass. Overall the blend looks pretty good, but I think I see a few cloning artifacts on the horizon line.
Registered on November 2, 2009, 161 Posts, 2143 Comments
Comment posted by Brian Schrayer on June 19, 2012 at 8:15 PM
Beautiful view here Rick. The blend looks good for your first attempt. The one nit that I have is the out of focus foreground. I would consider cropping that because it detracts from what is an otherwise very well processed image.

EDIT: I usually try to comment before reading the other comments. When I looked back at everyone's comments it looks like it is just about unanimous about the OOF foreground. Otherwise this is a beautiful image.
Registered on May 28, 2004, 114 Posts, 2890 Comments
Comment posted by Lon Overacker on June 19, 2012 at 9:23 PM
Rick,

Great job with the blend - I never would have thought it was; not only can't I tell, but you did a good job getting the light values and balance natural between the sky and landscape.

As already noted, I'm unsure about the oof grass at the bottom, but it's not an image killer for me. The flowers are in focus and it's a nice combo with the setting sun. Nice comp too.

Lon
Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments
Comment posted by Rick Turner on June 20, 2012 at 11:01 AM
Thanks for the helpful c&c. My few months here have helped me improve in nature photography after 40 years shooting as a commercial pro. Keep on shooting :wavey:
Registered on February 18, 2012, 534 Posts, 2755 Comments
Comment posted by Dean Sauskojus on June 20, 2012 at 3:54 PM
When you have Bluebonnet in the title I figured this is Texas. That is some field of flowers. Lovely colors both on the ground and in the sky and the sun is a great focal point. Just saw the repost. That is excellent!
Registered on September 29, 2009, 137 Posts, 2659 Comments
Comment posted by Morris McClung on June 20, 2012 at 3:57 PM
Nice! Very, very nice. This really sums up a Spring Texas sunset for me. Good to see some beauty from there.
Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments
Comment posted by Howard Cheek on July 1, 2012 at 7:54 AM
This is beautiful Rick, truly a golden Texas moment! :toast:
As someone said, this has a great "flow" to it..nice work on the blending as well..
Have a great Sunday:toast:
Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments
Comment posted by Dan Roberts on July 1, 2012 at 9:43 AM
Lovely shot. You did a good job on the blending, no anomalies. Agree with prior comments about cropping the FG but that's a prefereence that can go either way. Well done.
Registered on March 9, 2011, 69 Posts, 501 Comments
Comment posted by Stan Wojtaszek on September 8, 2012 at 12:22 PM
Now this is a cool shot !!
:toast:
Registered on August 6, 2012, 21 Posts, 86 Comments