The End of the Day at the Grand Canyon

[Michael Pancier]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3428/3820433602_355c637223_o.jpg

I just love this place. Pictures don't do it justice. So many compositions available depending on the lens and time of day....

Shot this at Navajo Point on the Eastern Rim of the Park.

3 image HDR

5d Mark II
24-105L @ 50mm
f/16
ISO 100

processed in Photomatix Pro and Lightroom and CD 4. Full frame.

Should I tone down the greens on the lower left? or crop out those lighter colored tree tops?

[Jay Gould]

Hi Michael, just loving your presentations. I would crop just above the lighter colored tree tops turning it into a pano. Doing so by scrolling down to see it in that fashion - a pano - gives me a greater feeling of continuous length. I might even consider cropping further just above the bush on the right center so that the bottom is still back from the edge. Might be a stronger pano; see what other think. Thanks for sharing.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Michael,
Nice assesment Jay!.....the crop of the light green will form a nice V and frame the canyon......no higher for my tastes! Now the sun......I love the god rays and do realize that the jpeg compression probably killed any detail that you had there.....so I won't mention toning it down (I know, I did)......but I do believe that! The small size limitations for landscapes greatly affect fine detail....so besides the crop......this one rocks! Great to see you were rewarded with some nice clouds! I see a slight HDR halo on left ridge....but an easy fix to a very nicely composed image!

[Gerald_Gilligan]

Michael,
Great image, great light !
The greens in the lower left corner don't really bother me.
I love the god rays and how they add dimension and depth...

Jerry

[Kobus Tollig]

Ditto All Roman Said. Still really great shot well done

[Fabs Forns]

Agree on the crop suggestions and , to my taste, you could increase the midtones, a fault I find in most HDR landscapes. I think the 5 stop GND may have been a better choice than the 3 stop. Next on my wish list.

[Jay Gould]

Michael, what filtration did you use? Fabs, I have a 3 and a 2 stop GND which I would combine if necessary.

[Morkel Erasmus]

just a lovely rendition Michael! I know places like this make you feel that you couldn't share it, but your shot really carries that grandeur for me. I love the colour variations in the rocks and the sun/clouds as mentioned. I think Roman's suggestions regarding crop are good and Fabs' regarding midtones as well - increasing contrast there will make it even better...

[Julie Kenward]

Fabulous lighting. I mean FABULOUS. I'm not sure I would have remembered to click the shutter if I had been looking at that glorious sight.

[Rich Ikerd]

Another great GC image Michael - beautiful sunset colors. The lighter foreground seems a bit out of place to me since the light is really on the other side of the canyon edge. Reducing that brightness just a bit (still retaining the wonderful detail) might be worth a try.