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Morkel Erasmus
10-03-2012, 02:20 PM
Camelthorn Acacia trees. Red dunes. Big sky.
I miss the Kalahari when I go through these images of mine. I will only be back there late next year. :Whoa!:

Techs:
Nikon D3s with Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 @ 24mm
f8.0 @ 1/160 SS @ ISO-200
Photographed from the SUV after a storm had passed through
Full frame

dankearl
10-03-2012, 06:50 PM
Nice view Morkel and the clouds are really well done.

Rachel Hollander
10-04-2012, 07:40 PM
Morkel - I'm not loving the bright (blown?) area at the top right and unfortunately if you crop it out you also lose the blue sky too. Still it might be worth it. You really do get to see some beautiful landscapes on a regular basis.

TFS,
Rachel

Morkel Erasmus
10-05-2012, 12:09 AM
Thanks Dan and Rachel.
I thought I could live with the blown patch in favour of leaving the blue sky...but no...it's bugging me too.
Here's a cropped repost.
:bg3:

Jerry van Dijk
10-05-2012, 04:03 AM
Hi Morkel, this is an impressive scene! I think the cropped repost has lost some of its splendor compared to the OP (after all, it is all about big skies). By cropping, you have lost the nice 'curve' in the clouds on the right hand side that really draws the eye into the image. The bright area in the clouds does not seem to be blown too much, I bet you'll be able to recover the details with a selective adaptation of exposure and (micro)contrast in the RAW file. I usually use the graduated filter or local adjustment brush for this.

Morkel Erasmus
10-05-2012, 06:31 AM
Thanks Jerry - might do a double-RAW processing version here as I do also love that top part.
Will rework over the weekend. :5

Morkel Erasmus
10-07-2012, 05:20 PM
I tried to rework over the weekend.
The bright part doesn't show as "clipped/blown" on the histogram, but it is VERY bright. I was able to successfully blend back a darker exposure from the same RAW file, but didn't process further at the moment (just no time!)
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions...

Jerry van Dijk
10-08-2012, 11:59 AM
Hey Morkel, this might be a good exercise for the 'Monthly raw processing' forum. You could send it to Roger, if you're OK with expsoing one of your RAW files to the general public. I know he would like a few extra (non avian) images for the forum.

Robert Amoruso
10-09-2012, 08:38 PM
Two options Morkel.

Brown Patch: Select the white sky and turn it to B&W.

Toasty cloud: Reprocess the whites down and blend them in.

Stan Cunningham
10-17-2012, 11:07 AM
Morkel, the OP is much better for reasons discussed above.

Andrew McLachlan
10-17-2012, 08:45 PM
Hi Morkel, love the big sky!!! The cropped version is nice too, but I am a sucker for big skies. Robert's suggestions should help with the bright area in the sky.