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David Kennedy
07-28-2008, 02:38 PM
Clingmans Dome Observation Tower, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, N.C.
Canon 5D and 24-70mm f/2.8 L lens @ 24mm
Two horizontal images stitched together
Exposed 1/8 sec. @ f/8, ISO 100

From my first visit to the Smokies this past June. I arrived at the parking area for Clingmans Dome way too close to sunset and, without fully understanding the way most landscapes are photographed from that location, huffed and puffed my way up the steep, albeit short, trail to the observation tower. By the time I got there, conditions weren't as good (the sun had disappeared) and I discovered just how limited the options are from the tower. This was my effort to make soup from a stone! All comments welcome and appreciated!

Cheers,
David

Mitchell Krog
07-29-2008, 02:44 AM
A big wide open view, I like it David, has great depth to it.

Roman Kurywczak
07-29-2008, 09:15 AM
Hi David,
I would go with a darken interpretation of this one. Darkening the layers from the first hill alll the way to the sky would probably convey the feeling of dusk more and emphasize the layers even more. I would also crop some of the sky off just above the top defined cloud leaving a bit of blue above it as it starts to overpower the scene somewhat and loses some of it's drama near the very top.

David Kennedy
07-29-2008, 08:57 PM
Roman,
I think you make a valid point about the lightness of the image. Originally that's what I was going for but I just revisited it, cropping a bit from the top and adding density to those clouds, as well as the hilltops, while preserving the trees in the foreground. I think the result is certainly stronger, although I'm not sure that "drama" was a word I would have used to describe the original or this new version; I was trying to go for "subtle" :D

Noel Carboni
07-29-2008, 11:26 PM
I'd say it's a nice, peaceful view.

One very picky nit about image quality... Looks like at the lower-left you might have a hint of color-fringing on the tree trunks near the corner. For some reason I find that particular defect really hurts an image of natural surroundings. Photoshop has some good CA correction tools, both in the raw converter and the Lens Correction filter. You might see if they would help with that.

I like what you did with the rework.

-Noel

David Kennedy
07-29-2008, 11:32 PM
Noel,
I just checked the full-size file and concluded that there is a very tiny amount of blue CA on the horizontal branches on the lower-left edge, but what I actually think you're seeing on the image I posted is just a result of the sharpening I used for the web-sized file. My bad :)

Cheers,
David

Noel Carboni
07-29-2008, 11:55 PM
It's possible. The trunks of the trees look slighly reddish on the left and bluish on the right. I have a hypersensitivity to CA, and when digital tools started to come out to deal with it I was in 7th heaven.

-Noel