Clearing Storm #2

[Chris Hansen]

These pictures were shot from the Marble Canyon area of Death Valley.
We were just packing up to drive back to our room when I caught this peak peeking through a hole in the clouds. My tripod was already put away and i know I didn't have a lot of time so I grabbed a bean bag and put it on the top of the car. I had time for just two quick shots before the clouds closed in.

Canon 10D
Canon 100-400 IS @ 380mm
ISO 100
F 9.5 @ 1/750 sec.

All CC welcome.
Roman thanks again for the quick tutorial. There is a lot to learn here.

God bless all,

Chris

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Chris,
I am debating this one........as you have nice definition in the clouds........but the snow capped peak is a tad bright. Were the highlights lost........or were they brightened in PP??? If they weren't blown out.........you can probably save/enhance them by using either curves or shadow highlights. I might also crop some off the sky..making more of a diagonal comp with the brighter cloud line.

[Chris Hansen]

Roman,
They were blown out in PP. I was attempting to follow your mini tutorial from my last Death Valley image. Having a little knowledge is a bit like using dynamite. A bit too much and the whole mine caves in. Such is the case here. I overdid it a bit too much as i haven't mastered the knowledge you gave me.

I just think it is so cool what you can do with the shadows and highlights tool. I never knew there was something beyond the basic changes you could make with it. It has opened up a whole new arena for me to learn as most of my images since starting to use digital were so flat. I was really disappointed in most of my landscapes. So this has sparked a little more interest in looking back at some of my older work and reworking it. I have a steep learning curve ahead of me and i appreciate the help.

God bless,

chris

[Julie Kenward]

Chris, I'm the same way. Learning about that shadow/highlight tool has re-sparked my interest in landscapes as now i feel like I can get in pp what I could never get in camera.

I agree with Roman that this would have been much stronger if the highlights weren't blown on the mountain. Still, it is so far from the ordinary that it deserves a good look at it and you had a good eye for seeing it in the first place.

[Robert Amoruso]

Chris,

I would also suggest you try out a tighter crop from the top.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Another vote for cropping from the top. The snow covered peak looks burnt out. Nice quick reaction to capture this image.