Southwest Passage

I like the comp a lot, although im a bit unsure of the tree in the ulhc. The blend seems a bit off to me; there are some discontinuities in the sky that look almost like clouds but i suspect they're more likely the result of photomerge. The underside of the arch looks brighter than the far wall in the bg, which seems unlikely since the far wall is in direct sunlight. This is a very tough shot to pull off because so much of it is in shadow. The problem here is that if you use an exposure that properly puts the lit area in context, then everything becomes a bit too dark...a bit of a dilemma. Wish i could be of more help...

Thanks for the comment Stan. I actually did try cloning the TL tree, but felt the sky was too empty - I could have left more on the left side in general, but really liked the square comp to emphasize the water and arch (Jacob Hamblin Arch). I think I might consider the other crop now though. The sky did actually have some very subtle clouds -- it's not from the blend. Not sure why you thought the bg rock is in sun because it isn't - just full shade -- the sun lighting the green trees is actually coming through the arch. The underside of the Arch is lit from full sunlit rocks right below it - no other rock is in full sun. Appreciate the feedback.

An alternate wide crop

An alternate vertical crop - do you like either of these crops better?

I'm digging the vertical. Very nice. I think the processing is pretty good. Maybe a slight sponge burn on the yellow/greens particularly in the water, but still very nice.

Actually, I like the wider crop best of all. It gives everything else more context, IMO, and doesn't detract from the arch.

The second crop (i.e. - the alternate wide crop) seems ideal to me, including more of the tree on the left and a little more interest in the foreground also.

Can you explain what you mean when you say left to right photomerge? Also, everything I have heard about the D800 is a fantastic dynamic range. Was this scene really beyond it's abilities?

Rodney,

Left to right photomerge = I took two vertical shots for the left side and two vertical shots for the right side. I then merged each of the 2 shots for dynamic range individually and then merged the results of those two merges together to end up with a more detailed final image (something like 7100 x 9000 or something close to it).

I could have actually just used the two shots exposed for the sky and then pulled the detail out of the shadows. I did actually try this and it was fine, but by merging the two shots for exposure I got much better color and contrast in the mid-tone and shadow areas - not something that makes too much difference on the web, but would be very noticeable in print (as the difference was significant).