Paradise Bay Icescape

[Norm Dulak]

Nikon D7000 w/Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 vrII lens at 300mm, hand held
ISO Equivalent 400; f/7.1, 1/1600 sec.; uncompensated matrix metering
PP: PS CS6 levels, curves, very modest SH, no crop, sharpen

The ice formations of Antarctica never cease to amaze me. In this one at Paradise Bay, there is a tremendous range of blues, from the delicate hue of the sky blue, to the rich cobalt blue of the deep ice crevasses. And I think that the irregular shapes of the ice peaks and the striations on them add further impact to the image.

Do you agree? How could I make this better?

Norm


<iframe width="468" height="60" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://mer54715.datafeedfile.com/widget/aff_widget_prdt_generate-2.0.php?aff_num=10536&aff_net=1&widget_num=1759"><p>Sorry your browser does not support iFrame</p></iframe>

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Norm - I agree that the blues in the ice and the textures of the ice have a lot of interest. The sky however seems mostly blown and is a distraction to me. I would crop substantially down from the top to remove most of the sky but without cropping any of the ice and then try to recover whatever remains of the sky. I hope you have some more Antarctica landscapes to share.

TFS,
Rachel

[Norm Dulak]

Thanks, Rachel.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Norm,
A multiplied layer on the sky perhaps? If your RAW isn't blown on the sky or very little....looks like that will bring in some great definition and tame it to nicely balance the great shades of blue in the ice.

[Norm Dulak]

Hey Norm,
A multiplied layer on the sky perhaps? If your RAW isn't blown on the sky or very little....looks like that will bring in some great definition and tame it to nicely balance the great shades of blue in the ice.

Thanks, Roman.

I like your suggestion to try to retain yet improve the sky. The sky in my RAW file is not blown at all, but in experimenting with your suggestion, I had no luck. If you could point me to a link on use of the multiplied layer in a situation like this, I'd really appreciate it.

But what I did do was to return to my RAW file and so make some adjustments in CR. I then converted for this repost. I think it is better.

Norm

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Norm,
I thought it was in one of Robert's tonal range tweaks: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/24075-Image-Contrast-and-Tonal-Range-Tweaks-by-Robert-Amoruso

but I couldn't find it. I think your repost definitely made an improvement and what I was referring to....so nice job. Glad you liked the tweak too!

[Norm Dulak]

THanks, again, Roman.
Robert's tweaks are definitely worth spending some time exploring. Meanwhile, I have them bookmarked.

[John Chardine]

Just saw this Norm. Beautiful detail in the ice and great variety of texture and shapes. I like the sky in the repost but the micro-detail in the ice is less pronounced than in the OP.

(I think I remember that one!)