S9 of the Sneffels Range

Gallery: LandscapePosted January 22, 2016134 views13 comments

A few days ago I took this image of peak "S9" of the Sneffels Range which is part of the San Juan Mountain Range in Western Colorado. I always find it challenging photographing this range in the winter. The sun is at an odd angle and often the light is very harsh during the middle of the day (when the mountains actually do get some light). I decided to play with some black and white to see if I could improve upon the image, because I really didn't like the way it looked in color. I ran it through a detail extractor and and a neutral density filter in Color Efex Pro. I then ran it through Silver Efex Pro to see what would come about. I quite like it now, but am eager for some feedback. Too over-processed? Too much contrast? Other suggestions? Thank you so much in advance!
Camera and Settings:
Pentax K5iis, Pentax DA* 60-250mm, 108mm, ISO 100, f/20, 1/250 sec.

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on January 22, 2016 at 7:11 PM

Katie, The large version here was a treat for me. No, not over-processed at all in my opinion because it looks wonderful. It is a fantastic winter landscape beautifully captured and processed. I love the tones and appreciate the fine work you did.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

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

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on January 22, 2016 at 9:17 PM

Katie,

An outstanding conversion! As Nick mentions, not over processed at all and for me, the details and contrast is perfect. I have no idea about the Efex Pro softwares, but your example here would make anyone take interest. You did a fantastic job with this one.

Great job with the darkness and contrast of the sky and clouds. Awesome. The contrast and details in the mountain peaks and trees. Awesome.

If I had one thing to comment on would be the brightness of the snowy, avalanch ridge. Yes, as you point out the odd sun angle, time of day, etc. so not much to be done. And honestly, given those conditions, I expect that snow to be the brightest of the scene. The good news is that the area is small enough that at least for me doesn't detract from the overall enjoyment of this scene and image.

devil

Lon

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

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on January 22, 2016 at 11:08 PM

Very well made image, and not over-processed at all. Toning down the bright ridge might give it that last push from excellent to WOW, but there is probably not much you can do with it. Worth a try, anyway.

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

Comment posted by D.A. Edwards on January 23, 2016 at 12:58 AM

No nits from me at all, Katie. Beautiful B+W work and the bright ridge needs to stay that white. Superb!

Registered on October 8, 2014, 226 Posts, 1187 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on January 23, 2016 at 7:05 AM

Pretty exquisite, Kaite! Your approach (workflow) is very similar to mine for conversions, though I am awfully careful with detail extractor, usually dialing it down to 2 from the default 25 and then using control points at 40-60% opacity to bring it back subtly. Anyway, that was an unnecessary and irrelevant aside. This is a stunning image and it is beautifully processed. I tend to feel the bright ridge is a plus as opposed to an area needing further work, especially if there is no detail in it. Just beautiful.

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Roel Wijtmans on January 23, 2016 at 10:27 AM

Excellent B+W, DR looks amazing, definitely not too much contrast. I really enjoy the vast view of this, should make a very sweet print. The only very minor nit I could think of is removing what looks to be vague remains of a contrail in the sky to the left, it contrasts with the lovely cumulus clouds.

Registered on September 30, 2012, 116 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on January 23, 2016 at 11:12 AM

This looks great, Katie. The tonality and contrast are fine. I like the line of bare Aspens along the bottom. The one subtlety that I notice is the darkness of the highest peak (and I believe that's what Lon is talking about also). I would suggest dodging that gently, even though it was in a cloud shadow when you took this, getting a closer tone match with the lower slopes would be a good, subtle improvement.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Dave Dillemuth on January 23, 2016 at 2:32 PM

Katie,
Beautiful image. Love the layers created by the trees. Overall, B&W processing looks great.

Registered on December 10, 2015, 104 Posts, 1112 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Chamberlain on January 23, 2016 at 2:50 PM

Very nice! The bright areas are what I would expect under conditions like these. I think it's just fine the way you have presented it. If it were mine, I might play with the red filter in the sky. Maybe creating a little more drama there?

Registered on March 13, 2007, 500 Posts, 8365 Comments

Comment posted by Preston Birdwell on January 24, 2016 at 7:16 PM

This is a wonderful B&W, Katie! The tonal scale is right on and the entire image has a lot of life to it. Nicely done!

--P

Registered on November 1, 2003, 471 Posts, 5188 Comments

Comment posted by Marylynne Diggs on January 24, 2016 at 9:04 PM

Very nice conversion imho. I can imagine a little more darkening of the sky, but that's purely a taste thing. I don't see any real noise, which can occur with SilverEfex. I like this a lot.
ML

Registered on December 14, 2010, 122 Posts, 1034 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on January 25, 2016 at 5:53 PM

This has a beautiful classic look. Sweet image.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Ryan Shain on January 28, 2016 at 6:16 PM

Katie,

I rather like this scene, and the image is presented in black and white beautifully. The tones look great through out the image, and the black and white presentation capture the graphic beauty of this mountain range.

beautiful work

Registered on February 20, 2007, 226 Posts, 4571 Comments