First Post Image Processing Attempt

[Dave Mayers]

My wife and I just returned from a trip to Canyonlands National Park in UT. After taking several shots of this scene I came around a bush to find this gentleman asleep and sunbathing in the last ray of sunlight. I would appreciate any constructive critiques. I guess I am suppose to give some equimpment and processing details:

Nikon D40
Nikon 18-55mm lens
ISO 200
1/160 sec
f 6.3
FL 23 mm
Polarizer and Grad. ND filter 0.6

PROCESSING CHANGES
Tine +10
Expos -1.00
Shadows 5
Brightness +35
Contrast +36
Saturation +33
Sharpness 25

I don't know if there are any "rules" of processing, I kept making changes until the photo had the feel I was shooting for.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3380/5769079791_121533e175_z.jpg

[Dave Mayers]

Trying to figure out how to use Flicker image service. TY for your patience.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmayersmo/5769079791/" title="Last sunray by dmayersMO, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3380/5769079791_121533e175.jpg" width="431" height="500" alt="Last sunray"></a>

[John Chardine]

Hi Dave- Welcome to BPN! You will find it's a great place to learn about nature photography. Feel free to comment on images posted by others. We are interested in your opinions. You guessed right on providing the information. It helps to analyse your image and provide a good critique. I don't think you need the processing change values themselves, just a brief description of what you did (the numbers may be asked for if for example someone asks how you sharpened the image).

We don't get many landscape images in ETL. Great to have one! This is a stunning location and the colours are excellent. Love the sky. The person adds interest in the FG. The FG is very bright compared to the BG and sky and I think you should even out the contrast to bring out some detail in the BG. You could dodge the area or use a gradient neutral density filter available in Adobe Camera Raw. Shadows and Highlights in Photoshop would work too. Now I don't know this area but I am wondering if the horizon should be horizontal.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Dave, I also welcome you to BPN. I like the fact you chose foreground interest and agree that the foreground is very bright compared to the rest of the scene which appears to be shaded. If you look at the horizon closely it is leaning heavily to the right. You should look at that area first to make sure the image is level. My advice is to get a bubble level for the camera which you slip into the hot shoe.
I did some work in PS but please excuse since I did it quickly. I selected the foreground and reduced the brightness. I then inversed the selection and worked on the top. The image had a magenta cast and I brought it back to a more realistic view. Did a S/H and levels adjust to lighten that area. Did a small amount of dodging on the mesa. Finally I filled in the large white glare on the mans knees and forehead.
After looking at the repost I might tone down the small white cloud thats very bright....
Hope this helps a bit...

[Dave Mayers]

Thank you John and Dave for the constructive comments. I can already tell this is going to be a great place to hone my skills and I hope that eventually I can return helpful suggestions.

As far as the horizon being level I admit the original photo was not level but I use PS level line on the BG cloud line to level the photo. I figured these types of clouds don't lie about what is true level even though the horizon may be off. Does that cloud line still not appear level? I may need to recalibrate my eye.

Thank you both.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Dave,
Welcome to the forums! I'm late to the party but since I know the area well where you were photographing.....your cloud trick is correct. It is the location you chose and the butte that throws the eyes off. Your cloud line looks pretty level to me also......although perhaps a touch more. I love the sky......you don't often get it there and I see you used a split ND filter.....was it upside down to match the tones of the scene? An alternative is a 2 exposure blend.....one for the clouds and the canyons......and the other for the FG rock area with the gentleman laying out.
I think Dave's tweaking is the right direction so a bit further tweaking will make this shine. Comp wise you did very well with placing him in a good position in the frame also. Make the tweaks and you will have a winner! Keep in mind that for landscapes we often like to be at least at f11 or smaller aperture.....but you have to be careful with cloud movement so try bracketing a few at different DOF's to see which one will work the best.

[Dave Mayers]

Roman, sorry for getting back so late. I really appreciate the composition compliment and the processing suggestions. I have read about doing multiple exposure blends in Digital Photo magazine but have not yet tried it. The Grad ND filter was used on the sky because of the bright white clouds. I never thought of reversing it for the lower FG. I will keep that tip in my back pocket.

this is a great place to better my photo skills. Thank you everyone.