More Red at John Day Fossil Beds

[Tom Walter]

I like the colors, the layers of colors and the three dimensional effect in this image. The image has very bright areas and dark shadows. I lightened the dark areas some by selecting shadows and using a curves adjustment. More lightening reduced the richness of the red color. I tried various crops but concluded the composition as shot was best. Your comments are welcome.

Nikon D200
Nikon18-200 3.5-5.6 G VR at 112mm
1/60 sec at f 16
Tripod<O:p</O:p

[Rene Quenneville]

This is a tough one to crack. The composition is beautiful but the quantity of shadow areas makes the picture way too dark. I have quickly tried to lighten the picture but then we need to deal with the blue cast in the open shade. I am not pleased with the result but here are the results:
- shadows and highlights
- adjust the saturation in the red channel
- slight curve to reveal midtones and push the black point (for contrast)

Please keep posting comments and variations. It is a great picture for learning and discussion.

[Dave Mills]

Rene..You did an excellent job bringing up the shadows. Nice layered comp...

[Paul Marcellini]

Rene's repost is really nice. I too love the layers here. A really nice comp.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Tom,
Another nice comp here. I too like the way Rene brought up the shadow area. nice use of layers and colors in this interesting place.

[Robert Amoruso]

Rene's rework of this well execute image brings in the tonality needed for its full potential. Great composition Tom.

[Grady Weed]

Tom, this one has the best potential of them so far. Bring up the reds with more detail, and it is a wall hanger for sure. The center looks like a dinosaur ran its head into some rocks and got stuck.