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View Full Version : Zabriske Point, Death Valley, California



Jay Gould
11-24-2010, 09:19 PM
During a workshop with Jack Graham (http://www.jackgrahamphoto.com/), my brother Steve joined me for our first ever serious shoot together. We had a blast for three days under the watchful eye of Jack.

I used Viveza to lighten the clouds and give them more structure (14 small CPs along the length of the could). I also did a version where I lightened the foreground; however it seemed to reduce the impact of the sun in the mountains. This optimized .jpeg is overall a bit darker than the .tiff image I am seeing in CS5.

This is early morning at Zabriske Point, a mandatory visit when shooting Death Valley.

My brother's image is sooooooooo different!! (http://www.stevegouldphotography.com/gallery.php?galleryid=15,&gallery=California)

Camera: 5D2
Capture date/time: 14 Oct 09; 7am
Light condition: sunrise
Lens: 24-105
Focal length: 105mm
Distance: 655m
Extender: none
Tube: none
Flash/Comp: no
ISO: 800
Exp Prog: Av
Speed: 1/8 sec
Aperture: f/18
Exp Comp: -2/3
Metering: Manual
WB: Auto
AF Drive: One shot
Tripod: yes
Filter: SR GNDs
Crop: none
Images Changes:

Processed in LR 3 and CS5 - plus Viveza, DeNoise, InFocus, and Pixel

Genius Sharpening.

All C&Cs gratefully appreciated!

Tim Munsey
11-25-2010, 07:43 AM
Hi Jay,
What a name, Death Valley, a strong shot of the drama. I might chop it in half vertically keeping the left hand side if it were mine.
TFS

Tim

Christoph Belanger
11-25-2010, 08:56 AM
I like the image (reminds me of my time there last year) but you got lucky with the clouds. I think much more detail could be teased out of the raw file.

For a shot like this it is not really necessary to shoot at ISO 800. you can comfortably shoot at ISO 100 with a cable release. I would also shoot at F/8 or so; you don't really need to shoot at F18 as this degrades the image.

To balance the image I might attempt to mask a background copy and use the screen mode or multiply mode to selectively dodge and burn in order to tease out some more detail in the darks and lights. Alternatively, you could also do this via luminosity masks.

I like

Jay Gould
11-25-2010, 09:05 AM
Hi Jay,
What a name, Death Valley, a strong shot of the drama. I might chop it in half vertically keeping the left hand side if it were mine.
TFS

Tim

Mate, I have no ego problems!! Where would you chop it? Go ahead and post what you think is cool!!

Tim Munsey
11-25-2010, 09:18 AM
Hi Jay,
You asked for it, here you go:-

Tim

Gary Hamilton
11-25-2010, 09:51 AM
Nice capture of beautiful morning light. Lots of layers give a nice 3-D effect. I had the opposite thought regarding cropping, i.e., more of a pano crop. Cheers.

Dennis "Curly" Buchner
11-25-2010, 12:21 PM
Very nice composition, I would lighten the foreground and bring out more detail. Really like the different color of the different mountains. good job

Roman Kurywczak
11-25-2010, 02:10 PM
Hey Jay,
Interesting thoughts above! I'm going to say I like the comp in the OP! I see you used the GND filters....so not sure why the FG is as dark.....but I think bringing that up will really help this image. I do think there may be a bit of noise in this so some NR may be in order. Miracle or miracles too....I am not going to recommend a crop! Just fill in the light blue sky with grey cloud at the UL.
I think some tweaking will take this up a notch!

Jay Gould
11-26-2010, 03:52 AM
Hi Jay,
You asked for it, here you go:-

Tim

Do you really like it is the question for you to answer; for me while the crop is nice it looses the grandeur of the mountains. Horses for courses.

Tim Munsey
11-26-2010, 04:15 AM
I think it maybe one of those things that if you know it then your brain sees more, having never been to the USA it is unfamiliar. Think you're right the crop doesn't work, prefer the original post, no harm in exploring.

Tim

Jay Gould
11-26-2010, 04:25 AM
Tim, I think it is great that you are willing to put it out for others to comment. Please keep doing so and we will learn from each other! :cheers:

Jay Gould
11-26-2010, 04:33 AM
To be honest I am not sure 1) why the FG is as dark, and 2) why I choose the particular settings at ISO 800 etc.

I ran a round of DeNoise and also did a USM at 100 - .3 - 0.

Regarding the foreground, I am presenting a lighter version; I had originally done this and thought it lessened the impact of the bright mountains. This time I was even more gentle with the lightening.

Roman, what do you mean by
Just fill in the light blue sky with grey cloud at the UL. Are you suggesting I clone in more clouds?

Jay Gould
11-26-2010, 04:38 AM
Do the sunlit mountains have the same impact in the RP as in the OP?

Andrew McLachlan
11-26-2010, 09:42 AM
Hey Jay, I love the photo and prefer it as horizontal. I think the sunlit mountains still have the same impact as in the original - maybe a touch less saturated. I believe that Roman does mean to clone in some clouds to remove the sliver of light blue sky on uppermost left side of comp. I see you used Viveza, if you are using Viveza 2 have you tried using the "structure" slider on the clouds - it might make it just a little more dramatic. Very nice work!

Jay Gould
11-26-2010, 10:52 AM
Andrew/Roman if we are only talking about the sliver of sky in the upper left "side" of the image that I can do! I was focusing on the big blank piece between the clouds on the LH side. To be continued...........:)

Dave Mills
11-26-2010, 12:40 PM
Hi Jay, I like the repost where you lightened the foreground a bit. I don't feel it takes away from the overall. Easy job to fill in the sliver of sky with clouds. While I like what you did when framing the comp I might have added a bit more of the lighter formation in the foreground to give more of a base...

Jay Gould
11-26-2010, 07:00 PM
Here is the next version; teachers is it the final?

Roman Kurywczak
11-26-2010, 09:17 PM
Works for me!!! Nice job with the suggestions!!!

Andrew McLachlan
11-26-2010, 10:25 PM
Very nicely done Jay. :)

Jay Gould
11-26-2010, 10:44 PM
Thank You!!:D

Robert Amoruso
11-28-2010, 08:28 AM
Nice work taking the suggestions Jay and working them through to the end.