Bear Lake horiz. 2011

Gallery: LandscapePosted September 6, 2012410 views14 comments

What an amazing area Rocky Mountain National Park is! This last year, I was able to grab this shot just before sunset while sitting above Bear Lake. The scene is so vast and majestic in person, it took a good few hours to work the RAW files and get all the color, contrast and vibrance that the real scene held. Too bad we can't all bring home the smells of fresh mountain air from our outings, along with the slight chill of autumn. That would make an incredible experience for everyone...

I guess it's plain to see that I am looking terribly forward to this upcoming season. Colorado is chalked full of color (hence, COLORADO

), so we'll see if I can get out in it.

As far as processing goes, like I said before, a ton of time was spent extracting all the original color, and doing away with the flat feel that RAW files take on. Two images were merged, for DOF. Also, another big chunk of time was spent 'painting' in the more lightly exposed leaves on the top left. The GND filter had darkened them significantly, but fortunately there wasn't any wind, so that made things easier for blending.

Canon 60d 10-22mm @ 21mm
ISO 100 --- f/13 --- 1/25sec & 1/20sec --- tripod --- GND 0.9 soft

Comments and Critiques Welcome! VIEW LARGE!

Comments

14 comments

Comment posted by John Neukirch on September 6, 2012 at 5:25 PM

Very nice Nathan, I can even smell those pines. RMNP has always been one of my favorite places in the Rockies.

Registered on July 9, 2012, 207 Posts, 1476 Comments

Comment posted by Verdon on September 6, 2012 at 5:51 PM

sweet quarter dollar shot, love to see different angle of perspective than only from water level, nicely framed with aspens!!! good job!

Registered on June 10, 2011, 147 Posts, 1444 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on September 6, 2012 at 7:17 PM

Beautiful color and a nice crisp feel to this image. Now you've got me longing for fall.

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on September 6, 2012 at 7:55 PM

Good thing there are aspen at Bear Lake, cause as you can see in the distance the majority of the pines have been killed by beetles.

A nice take on this iconic spot, Nathan. I like how you handled the fg trees a lot. My only suggestion is to bring down the brightness of the shaded areas in the bg (Longs etc) theyre a bit too bright.

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on September 6, 2012 at 9:39 PM

This is lovely. You captured and developed it perfectly.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on September 6, 2012 at 11:31 PM

A mini-icon and you've done it justice here, Nathan. Beautiful.

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

Comment posted by John Mumaw on September 6, 2012 at 11:46 PM

Beautiful!
I agree with Stan's comment re: the shadows. I can't quite figure out why you used a GND filter here, esp. considering the less than flat skyline and the fact that you were already capturing multiple exposures for blending. Seems like it added more work for you than anything. I can still see the grad line in the leaves in the upper right corner, for instance.

Registered on September 9, 2005, 62 Posts, 2289 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on September 7, 2012 at 9:23 AM

Sweet shot Nathan - this really sings. Bright and cheerful, with beautiful color, what more could you ask for? No nits from me. Well done.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Daniel Rappaport on September 7, 2012 at 11:22 AM

Beautiful composition. Love the framing by the trees. Sometimes GND filters are more trouble than help.

Registered on September 9, 2009, 294 Posts, 2006 Comments

Comment posted by Nathan Apodaca on September 7, 2012 at 4:34 PM

Thanks so much for the comments, everyone! I agree about the GND filter. I'll do it different next time... Let's hope this year's fall colors is a winner!

Registered on November 16, 2011, 67 Posts, 1127 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on September 7, 2012 at 5:15 PM

Nathan,

Ahhh, autumn is just about here. This is a wonderful view. I think you have an excellent balance of foreground color and the bg landscape and light. Excellent framing, yet enough opening to allow the eye to explore the entire scene. Well done.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Harding on September 7, 2012 at 7:50 PM

Wonderful scene with absolutely beautiful colors. Also your framing and crop is perfect. My only nit is the use of a grad mentioned above. It doesn't worry me at all on the left but you could try and select the red leaves on top right and reduce the exposure a bit.

Registered on January 19, 2011, 33 Posts, 408 Comments

Comment posted by Nathan Apodaca on September 8, 2012 at 12:15 PM

Thanks for the tips, Dennis. I'm grateful for all the input. After editing one image for so long, one begins to lose the ability to critique it properly!

Registered on November 16, 2011, 67 Posts, 1127 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on September 8, 2012 at 8:52 PM

Nathan, This is a beautiful scene and I really enjoy how you framed it with the foreground trees and colorful leaves. This certainly gets you thinking about fall color. Very nice!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments