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Morkel Erasmus
02-20-2011, 12:19 PM
Revisited my Fish River Canyon hiking trip shots in search of a vertical composition.

On this day (the start of our hike through the Canyon, before we descended to the bottom) the overcast conditions (a rarity in this desert) provided nice muted light to enhance the details of the canyon.

Techs:
Canon 1000D with 18-55mm IS @ 18mm
f11 @ 1/250 SS @ ISO-200

dankearl
02-20-2011, 02:10 PM
Very nice although I would maybe have cropped off a bit of foreground.
It looks like the American Southwest canyon country.
Beautiful.

Robert Amoruso
02-20-2011, 02:12 PM
I like the strong FG diagonal, curve of the river and the vertical format for the composition. I am debating on the sky and tried a crop above the first dark cloud layer but not sure I like the shortened height of the image.

I do recommend Local Contrast Enhancement on BG copy using USM at 20/50/0 to make the canyon POP.

Morkel Erasmus
02-20-2011, 03:30 PM
thanks Robert & dankearl

Robert - already applied LCE, once on high res file and once on resized file?

Dave Mills
02-20-2011, 05:44 PM
Hi Morkel, agree with Roberts comments and if this were mine I would crop the sky just below the cloud sliver below your name.Since there isn't much drama in the sky giving it 1/3rd of the image space is taking away from the canyon's impact. Regarding the foreground I could take it as is or themost I would crop would be just above the line of rocks at the bottom edge...

Ken Watkins
02-20-2011, 10:46 PM
I like this, it does look like the Grand Canyon and is "marketed" as such.

I think it would be much better with as much of the FG cropped out as possible, or you could have got closer to the edge, not that I would recommend it.:bg3::bg3:

Chris Korman
02-21-2011, 03:21 PM
I like the muted landscape, with all its textures. Would you consider trying a version with the sky cropped about an inch down, I am not sure if the focus is really the upper part of the image anyways, and might strengthen the image.

Roman Kurywczak
02-21-2011, 03:27 PM
Hey Morkel,
When I come to visit.....I want to go there!!!! You have some excellent advice above......I do think the top crop will help as will another LCE or contrast boost......but given what happens in the compression here.....I'm sure it is fine on the larger versions. I am one to hang over edges:eek:.....but wih the newborn.....you may consider otherwise!:bg3: This works overal for me and tweaks......whichever direction you choose will just put it over the top!

Morkel Erasmus
02-21-2011, 03:46 PM
thanks for the comments everybody

here is a quick repost with the suggestions implemented - didn't want to crop too much as I don't want it "square" and I do have a lot of landscape-oriented shots of this place.
also added about 10 points saturation here and use a multiplied levels layer on the sky.

Roman - organise a trip and I'll take you ;)

Dave Mills
02-21-2011, 03:53 PM
I like the repost...looks good!

Chris Korman
02-21-2011, 04:12 PM
I like the cropping, I am not sure about the degree of contrast, the image is a lot "sharper" and less about subtle textures. Your call on how you want it to ultimately feel.

Valerio Tarone
02-23-2011, 03:20 PM
Hi Morkel i think in this case I should have use a GND filter on the sky. But the repost works. agree with above, i should crop also a bit of bottom. The S shape of the river is a strong element. :::S3:

Morkel Erasmus
02-23-2011, 04:08 PM
thanks Dave, Chris and Valerio...

Valerio, a GND is something I still need to purchase, to my shame :)

Andrew McLachlan
02-24-2011, 08:44 PM
Morkel, I love the repost, very nicely executed!

Morkel Erasmus
03-01-2011, 03:08 PM
thank you Andrew...

Andrew Aveley
03-09-2011, 12:55 AM
like the repost Morkel. Great advice all-round!

Jay Gould
03-09-2011, 01:07 AM
Morkel, the RP rocks and I would still remove the rocks in the foreground by a bit more cropping. I would crop up so that the light foreground starts in the exact LRH corner. Other than that I really like the image.