Nature Photographers Network
This is the preserved archive of the original Nature Photographers Network. The community continues at naturephotographers.network.
Colorful night
‹ PreviousLandscape GalleryNext ›

Colorful night

by Chikku Baiju

Gallery: LandscapePosted March 20, 2013510 views16 comments
Hello everyone!

Got out shooting after a few months break. Went to lost dutchman with Peter Coskun to check out the wildflowers. There were some nice blooms, but in a week or so it should look really nice up there.

The lights from the city washed out some of the details in the sky. So I messed around with the color balance to give the sky a hint of blue and to make the starts pop out more.

What do you guys think of the processing?

All C&C appreciated
Thank you!

Comments

16 comments
Comment posted by Serkan Imisiker on March 20, 2013 at 4:24 AM
Very nice in deed. I only have some minor suggestions. I do not know whether you intentionally do that, but there seems to be a strong vignetting around the image. Especially the upper left and right corners seem quite dark to my eye.

Other than that brightening the whole image may also works to make it more vivid. Just some thoughts. Well done.

Serkan
Registered on March 15, 2013, 25 Posts, 44 Comments
Comment posted by Shantikara Valuska on March 20, 2013 at 8:43 AM
Beautiful night shot! Maybe you could brighten up just a bit. You did not give any technical details. It looks like the middle ground is softer than the foreground, especially the bush on the left. Although it is difficult to see in this small image. The sky color looks fine for me.
Registered on July 25, 2011, 38 Posts, 451 Comments
Comment posted by Hamed Musharbak on March 20, 2013 at 9:59 AM
wow !!

this is awesome, you just got a perfect light

very nice
Registered on June 1, 2009, 372 Posts, 2282 Comments
Comment posted by Ben Horne on March 20, 2013 at 11:00 AM
I think your processing is spot on with this one. If it was any brighter, it wouldn't feel like a night image. I find the light you've captured on the foreground cactus to be very intriguing -- it gives the image a lot of dimension when combined with the light on the rocks in the background. In this case, I think the city lights actually give this shot an added sense of dimension that might be lacking if you had very dominant stars. For a lot of photographers, "Aggressive Milky Way" shots are in vogue, but I find that they are often too much, and it spoils the feeling of being there and seeing it in person. I think what you've accomplished here is a night photo that feels genuine to the scene, and doesn't feel like some tatted up dude with a fauxhawk and an energy drink singing(shouting) "silent night" to me. Well Done.
Registered on August 27, 2009, 51 Posts, 959 Comments
Comment posted by Navin Sarma on March 20, 2013 at 11:20 AM
Chikku, this is awesome. The processing looks great to me. I could see the foreground being a little darker to give it more of the natural twilight look, but it really shines as presented. The colors look fantastic and very natural. Nice work
Registered on July 17, 2011, 233 Posts, 1373 Comments
Comment posted by Peter Coskun on March 20, 2013 at 2:24 PM
Yup. I knew this would turn out really good. I think the processing is almost spot on. I think you could add a bit more of the magenta for a more unique look. The clouds were perfectly moving over the mountain and helps pull you back into the peaks. Let's try to get back out there either this weekend or sometime next week.
Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments
Comment posted by Marc Adamus on March 20, 2013 at 2:53 PM
I've shot near here at night and noticed some really intense light pollution before, so magnificent job processing for that, and everything else too for that matter. The composition is unique and lovely throughout, although I might have wished a tad more separation between peak/cactus on the right side was possible. Still, this is quite enjoyable.
Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments
Comment posted by Bob Miller on March 20, 2013 at 6:04 PM
Nice POV Chikku- were you on your belly? Watch out for those pesky cholla! :biggrin: Processing looks fine- I might open up the shadows on the cholla a bit. Framing seems a little too much overlap with the cholla over the mountain and you probably gave the extra room on the left to see more of the stars but I'd probably crop in there a bit. Hope to get out with you again this spring.
Registered on January 24, 2005, 152 Posts, 405 Comments
Comment posted by Nick Palmieri on March 20, 2013 at 7:44 PM
Very surreal I like the color contrast between the sky and the yellow flowers. Nice job!
Registered on September 1, 2011, 35 Posts, 748 Comments
Comment posted by Doug Koepsel on March 20, 2013 at 8:26 PM
Chikku, glad to see that you were able to get out and shoot. I too saw what Marc said about desiring more mountain, but don't know if the flowers to the left would allow a shift of position. The sky below and right of the cholla looks too gradiated and burnt on the outer right. The relative brightness of the whole scene looks good to me.
Registered on April 1, 2010, 196 Posts, 1592 Comments
Comment posted by scott lanz on March 20, 2013 at 9:15 PM
Beautiful, Chikku. :toast:
Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments
Comment posted by Rick Turner on March 20, 2013 at 10:27 PM
Out of this world. :wavey:
outstanding.
Registered on February 18, 2012, 534 Posts, 2755 Comments
Comment posted by R.Bill Moser on March 21, 2013 at 2:32 PM
Awesome night shot! Beautiful light and it still has the night feeling to it. My opinion is that the processing is perfect. If this is brighter so the night feeling gets lost. Great work
Registered on January 29, 2010, 285 Posts, 4281 Comments
Comment posted by Sairam Sundaresan on March 21, 2013 at 7:07 PM
This image would look amazing on Print! I love the colors here. Maybe it's just me but the light areas above the rock in the background look like halos, but I could be totally wrong. :wink:
The composition is fantastic!

Lovely work!
Registered on March 14, 2013, 100 Posts, 643 Comments
Comment posted by Chikku Baiju on March 22, 2013 at 2:47 AM
Thank you everyone!

Here is a edit with some minor changes as requested.
Registered on January 9, 2010, 31 Posts, 246 Comments
Comment posted by Shane McDermott on March 22, 2013 at 9:01 PM
Nice one Chikku! I really like the comp, the Cholla tree adds a lot of strength to the overall balance of the scene.

Shane
Registered on November 12, 2007, 49 Posts, 1074 Comments