Canyon Fire

Gallery: LandscapePosted September 12, 2012221 views12 comments

Before you all get super bored with grand canyon shots, I thought I would share this other colorful scene we were fortunate to witness. I was drawn to the gradation of color between the sky and canyon walls as well as the patterns throughout the scene. This is a blend of two exposures. One for the sky, where the landscape was far too dark, and then another for the canyon to retain the detail and shadows. I didn't do much in terms of processing, just basic curves/contrast adjustments and no saturation boost. I pushed the contrast a bit in the canyon walls to give them more definition. Anyways, comments and critiques appreciated. Large version included.

Canon 7d
Canon 17-40mm @20mm
f14
ISO 100
1 sec
2 stop and 3 stop grad ND filters
CPL
Tripod

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Chikku Baiju on September 12, 2012 at 12:46 AM

Super nice Peter. The blend looks perfect here! The light on the canyon in the back is sweet. Makes me wanna go back and look at some of my photos that are NOT long exposure

Epic stuff man.

Registered on January 9, 2010, 31 Posts, 246 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on September 12, 2012 at 12:50 AM

Thanks Chikku, I actually think a long exposure of this particular scene would have been awesome with the way the clouds were moving. Sorta like what we saw at night doing the long exposures, just with these colors.

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

Comment posted by Kurt Budliger on September 12, 2012 at 9:49 AM

Damn, you had some killer light on this trip. Love the orange to pink layering of the canyon.

Registered on June 11, 2006, 113 Posts, 2116 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on September 12, 2012 at 10:36 AM

Good detail and a lovely sky. Overall, the image is a little flat.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on September 12, 2012 at 10:47 AM

Very nicely done. Too often images like this fall victim to the temptation to saturate. You've kept a very natural color range and the result is terrific. Nicely presented.

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

Comment posted by Morris McClung on September 12, 2012 at 11:12 AM

Great conditions and you made the most of it. Very well done.

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

Comment posted by Youssef Ismail on September 12, 2012 at 12:25 PM

Nice Color. Looks very natural

Registered on November 1, 2003, 474 Posts, 5555 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on September 12, 2012 at 7:10 PM

Thanks everyone! Philip, can you elaborate on what you find flat about the image? On my monitor things look nice and contrasty as well as vibrant.

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

Comment posted by Jared Atencio on September 12, 2012 at 8:34 PM

I really like the tones on the canyon walls here Peter. Not suggesting it, because you also got great light in the sky, but I'm perfectly content simply looking at a crop from the horizon down.

Registered on June 23, 2009, 21 Posts, 422 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Koepsel on September 13, 2012 at 10:39 AM

Peter, like Phil, I feel this image seems a little flat. I would try adding about 25 points of contrast to give it some depth, and pull back just a little on the magenta, but this would be for my tastes. The blend looks good.

Registered on April 1, 2010, 196 Posts, 1592 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on September 13, 2012 at 7:22 PM

Here is a repost adding 25 points of contrast to the overall scene, as well as pulling back the magentas 25 points via hue and saturation.

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

Comment posted by Robert Dayton on September 15, 2012 at 5:24 PM

Impressive, Peter. I like the varying tonalties. Well composed and detailed with the lines
in the FG ridge. The sky is a real plus.

Registered on November 11, 2008, 281 Posts, 3958 Comments