Peyto Lake

[Rachel Hollander]

I hope you're not sick of the Canadian Rockies. This one was taken from the Peyto Lake overlook on the Icefields Parkway. It was midday but the clouds had rolled in. I like how the light was hitting the distant mountains.

Canon 50D
16-35 @ 26 mm
1/160
f9.0
ISO 400
EC -2/3
HH, 2 stop GND (maybe CP too, not sure), levels adjustment and LCE in CS5.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Jason Hurst]

Beautiful image!

Peyto Lake is one of those subjects where it's almost been "overdone", and you see it in almost every Calendar, and on dozens of post cards etc of the Canadian Rockies, yet when you see it for yourself in person, it truly does take your breath away.

The small walk down from the parking lot to the viewing platform is definitely worth it.

Some photographers have even been known to climb over the railings of the platform, and take images from the rocks below.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Jason - we had a steep walk up from the lower parking lot. Apparently only tour buses and disabled visitors can now park in the upper lot, still a nice way to stretch the legs during the drive on the Icefields Parkway. I did not climb over the railing though I was tempted to one some guy kept sticking his hand in my photos while pointing to things.:2eyes2:

It seemed like almost every lake in the Canadian Rockies takes one's breath away.

Rachel

[Jason Hurst]

Aww, no prob Rachel. You're most welcome, and most deserving of the kind words.

You are so right about every lake in the Canadian Rockies taking one's breath away.

It's unfortunate that the upper parking lot is now only reserved for tour buses, and disabled visitors. (Fortunately I have a handicap parking decal, so that should allow me to continue to park there.)

Did you by chance manage to take any images of either Sunwapta, and/or Athabasca falls?

Here's one I took about 5 years ago on Fujichrome Velvia slide film of I believe Athabasca River & Falls. (Can't remember which one now. lol )

http://i56.tinypic.com/102kqo0.jpg

I purposely left the bluish tinge to it, as it makes it appear "softer", and colder.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Rachel, Due to the heavily overcast lighting the image looked a bit flat and dark. It's happened to me many times that your in a place only once and the light isn't good but you try and make due.
I worked on this using many varied tools...S/H,levels,curves,dodging and burning. Some controls worked better than others but I tinkered with it so much I cannot give you an accurate workflow.
Robert might have some good input here...

Jason, I will leave the image alone but in the future you are only allowed to repost an image that was already submitted in the thread.
Any new images should be posted in it's own thread. Not a big deal but just be aware of the rule in the future...

[dankearl]

I have to agree with Dave with this one Rachel,
Beautiful glacial milk water, but the lighting just wasn't there.
The comp is nice, and the scene is fantastic.
And no, I am not sick of Canadian Rockies, post as many as you like, I enjoy them.

[Jason Hurst]

My sincere apologies Dave. I did not mean to violate any rules. I've been looking for an "edit" function on my post, to remove the photo, and any related dialogue, but can't find one.

So please remove the photo, and related dialogue.

Thank you.

[Judy Howle]

What a wonderful view Rachel, really gorgeous! As to the 2 versions, I think I'd prefer something in the middle between the OP and Dave's which might be a hair over-saturated to me, apologies Dave, but it definitely does need a contrast or mid-tone contrast adjustment to make it pop. I use either Topaz Adjust or Nik tonal contrast instead of figuring out how to do it from scratch.:e3

[Don Railton]

Rachel, more Rockies Please...!

I agree that the LHS mountain needs more detail which Dave has managed to extract. Its a beautiful scene subdued somewhat by poor light and maybe photographer stress due to random hands appearing in the frame...

Thanks for showing

DON

[Dave Mills]

Hi Judy, no apologies necessary. Your opinion is important and since there is an element of individuality in the way we look at images we will all have some difference of opinion from time to time.

Hi Jason, Don't be overly concerned. If Robert wants to delete it he will...

Rachel, your bringing back memories of a trip I really enjoyed so if you have more ...show em!!

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks all for the comments and suggestions and particularly to Dave for the repost. I probably should have removed the GND when the cloud came fully in but I actually kind of like the low contrast treatment here. I played around with the image a bit, doing some selective dodging, selective color, levels and adding a bit of contrast. I know what Dave means about not being able to explain the workflow. It involved a lot of trial and error (lots of errors :S3:). Please let me know what you think. Again, thanks for all the encouragement and suggestions. Slowly I'm getting the hang of CS5.

Rachel

P.S. Jason - no worries about the errant image. We only went as far north as the Icefield Centre so I didn't make it to the falls.

[Robert Amoruso]

My sincere apologies Dave. I did not mean to violate any rules. I've been looking for an "edit" function on my post, to remove the photo, and any related dialogue, but can't find one.

So please remove the photo, and related dialogue.

Thank you.

Don't sweat it Jason. No big deal.

[Jason Hurst]

Thanks Robert.

Again, my sincere apologies.

It won't happen again.

[Robert Amoruso]

Rachel,

I am not sure if it was the slower shutter speed combined with HH or another issue such as the JPG sharpening, but I am just not seeing a good amount of detail in this image. At that distance and f/9, you would have near to far DOF adequate that the image would be sharp.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Robert - it may be user error with the combination of filters too. I finally got the Lee 2 stop GND but just before the trip and didn't have time to do any experimentation with it prior to the trip so was experimenting on the fly.