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Tobie Schalkwyk
01-06-2015, 06:05 AM
Usually I hate stopping for anything other than filling up on my way back from holiday but this time I got tempted for some time by clouds forming nice formations accross a set of mountains. At sunrise my guilty consience started hampering me for not having taken a landscape in some while and I stopped for this scene.

Usual adjustments done in LR for getting most of the lighting, plus application of LR's GND filter to darken the sky a little and to get better definition from the clouds on the left. Taken just outside (south of) Graaff Reinette, for those who have done a trip or two in SA.

All C&C's welcome.

Nikon D600
Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 DI VC USD @ 24mm
f/20 | 1/8s | 100 ISO | Handheld (too much in a hurry to use the tripod and the Tamron's VC is deadly! :w3)

dankearl
01-06-2015, 06:30 PM
Nice panorama, I like the FG Yucca's? and the clouds over the mountains.
I might take a bit of yellow out of the clouds...

Don Railton
01-06-2015, 11:11 PM
Hi Tobie

This is pretty nice for a hurried shot, I can see why you stopped.. I am not convinced the colour above the horizon is correct... The sky looks a little too light for me and the shadows on the mountain on the right have a lot of blue in them, more than I would have thought..

regards

DON.

Tobie Schalkwyk
01-06-2015, 11:47 PM
Nice panorama, I like the FG Yucca's? and the clouds over the mountains.
I might take a bit of yellow out of the clouds...
Thanks for looking & commenting, Dan! The plants are aloes (probably Aloe ferox - I'm not an expert at plants). Its gel (or sap) is widely used for medicinal purposes as well as in cosmetic (beauty) products.

And I was actually scared the yellows are not enough... :w3

Tobie Schalkwyk
01-06-2015, 11:52 PM
Hi Tobie

This is pretty nice for a hurried shot, I can see why you stopped.. I am not convinced the colour above the horizon is correct... The sky looks a little too light for me and the shadows on the mountain on the right have a lot of blue in them, more than I would have thought..

regards

DON.
Thanks for looking & commenting, Don! The sky was quite bright - I was almost shooting right into the sun on the horison (as you can see on the right) which colored the clouds from below. The blue mountains are exactly what it looked like as seen with the naked eye and are actually much further away than than the main mountain section in the middle section.

Diane Miller
01-06-2015, 11:54 PM
Very nice! I wonder if the higher exposure in the sky on the right could be tamed a little? The blues there do seem a little strong, too.

As an alternative, I'm wondering if you could have gotten out in the field a little further and to the left and gotten closer to the two big aloe to make them bigger and moved them over into the space right of the largest peak.

Tobie Schalkwyk
01-07-2015, 12:12 AM
Very nice! I wonder if the higher exposure in the sky on the right could be tamed a little? The blues there do seem a little strong, too.

As an alternative, I'm wondering if you could have gotten out in the field a little further and to the left and gotten closer to the two big aloe to make them bigger and moved them over into the space right of the largest peak.

Thanks for commenting Diane! The sky on the right had already been tamed up to the point just before going grey. I guess I could have looked at a few other compositions but I had 700km waiting to get out of the way, knowing that peak holiday homecoming traffic was picking up behind me... :w3

Morkel Erasmus
01-07-2015, 05:25 PM
Nicely composed and processed Tobie. I agree that it could use some tweaking in the yellow clouds...
I'm fine with the blue of the sky but might tone down the hazy mountains somewhat (only a litte).

Tobie Schalkwyk
01-07-2015, 11:39 PM
Nicely composed and processed Tobie. I agree that it could use some tweaking in the yellow clouds...
I'm fine with the blue of the sky but might tone down the hazy mountains somewhat (only a litte).
Thanks for looking & commenting, Morkel! I'll work on & post an RP based on all the comments received.

Tobie Schalkwyk
01-08-2015, 09:46 AM
Vibrance & saturation reduced in LR to reign in yellows. Blues reduced on far away mountains by manipulating shadows & saturation in adjustment brush.

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=148199&d=1420728203

Andrew McLachlan
01-09-2015, 11:12 PM
Hi Tobie, nicely composed and your repost addresses each of my suggestions I was going to make. Nice one...look forward to more!