Sand Dunes to Mountains

[Ian McHenry]

This picture was taken on Monday morning at about 10am.
Pentax K10D @ 400 ISO. 400mm Sigma AF.
Monopod 1/500 @ F11 minus 0.5 EV.
Only slight crop.
Sun behind me.
Any comments appreciated.
Ian McHenry

[Robert Amoruso]

Ian,

The composition is good except that I might include a bit more FG so as not to cut a few of the bushes. The mid-tones need some additional work. You essentially have three layers in this image. The first is the FG dunes, the second is the middle ground tree line and than the BG mountains and sky.

FG Dunes & Middle Ground Trees: Do a selection of this area and using levels or curves, open up the shadows. You could also try Shadows/Highlights adjustment as well to open up the shadows.

BG Sky and Mountains: Do a selection and lower the brightness of the sky. There is also a strong blue/cyan color cast that should be corrected.

The FG is either not sharp originally or needs to be sharpened more. Since the BG looks sharp, I am guessing that is what you focused on and f/11 was not enough DOF to get the FG sharp.

[Jay R. Seltzer]

Ian,

Nice composition with interesting foreground and nice mountains in good position in the frame. There seems to be jpeg artifact and a color cast. Also, the detail in the trees is lost.

This type of image lends itself well to HDR - it would be difficult otherwise to properly expose the bright sky and dark treeline at the same time. Just my opinion...

I tried a few quick mods to the pict but cannot retrieve detail in the trees.

Jay

[Ian McHenry]

Thanks Robert & Jay
Unfortunately I have yet to learn the art of selective image editing but do appreciate the detailed advice.
Something for later !!!
Meantime here is original uncropped with a bit more forground.
Ian Mc

[Ian McHenry]

Well I've had another go this time using PS Elements on Quick Fix instead.
Started with Auto levels then darkened mid-tones.
Slight noise reduction & sharpened.
I really need to remember to do Full edit and Quick Fix if colours not right !!!
Ian Mc

[Robert Amoruso]

Ian, I like the repost. Very much improved. I redid your original and here it is.

See my repost on this image - I did basically the same thing.
http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=6237

[Ian McHenry]

Great job Robert.
Much improved detail, stronger colours and depth perspective.
Significantly more grunt !!!
Thanks for following this up and fine edit.
Ian Mc