Kalahari Rays

[Andrew Aveley]

I am interested to know if the lack of a strong FG anchor detracts from this scene? I quite enjoyed the colours and rays visible through dust during this sunset on the Eastern section of Namibia ( part of the Kalahari Desert ) I was facing noth up a depression between some overgrown dunes due to huge amount of rainfall this year in Namibia. Strong southerly wing created soft movement in the grass,

Canon 5D MK 2 , 24-105F4l @ 32 mm , F 8 , ISO 640 , 1/250 sec with lee SG 0.6 filter

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andrew, what is the green 'blob' on the LHS near the edge of the cloud, something on a filter?

cheers
Steve

[Andrew Aveley]

Thanks Steve......i think that is flare. It is barley visible on the orig but i think the local contrast enhancement on the resized has brought it out ............thanks for pointing it out :e3. I will see if I can remove it > not the best user of the healing brush ! :tinysmile_shy_t:

[Steve Kaluski]

OK, but Andrew, do you apply additional 'tweaks' after you resize, other than a little sharpening then?

[Andrew Aveley]

Hey Steve , no i use LR 3 for 90% of my workflow and use CS 5 for resize and sharpening of images. I found that a little local contrast enhancement adds some 'pop' to the images and brings out more contrast. I do not add anything or tweak the image.I have used NIK software on occasion but still grasping the upoint technology. I used a Lee ND soft grad 0.6 on camera with this image. Hope that answers your question :S3:

[Robert Amoruso]

Steve,

That is lens flare due to the sidelighting.

Andrew,

I will be the first to tell you that you do not need some super large or dominate FG element to make an image like this successful. Anytime I can have a pleasing pattern - repeating pattern (like you have) - colorful pattern in the FG I am happy. My beachscapes are a good example - I rarely have elements in the FG other then the patterns of rushing waves.

As I do feel the FG needs to be in sharp focus, that is what I generally insist on. Here your immediate FG is OOF. I assume you HH and at f/8, 32mm and assuming focus at infinitely, near focus was 12 feet plus. I would suggest a crop to get the immediate OOF area out of the image and sharpen some more.

I feel the grass acts well as a leading line into the image as you approach the first dominate tree on left that continues to pull the eye in. The clouds are in a pleasing pattern - swooping through the image and the diagonal from the sun rays adds a dynamic element of visual interest. All in all - well done.

[Steve Kaluski]

More than does Andrew, thank you. :bg3:

The only reason I ask was purely from a curiosity POV, we all differ in our workflows as I will only apply a little USM to the resize file, but then perhaps in Landscapes it might be beneficial to maximise the image to it's full potential a make some occasional localised additions. Always good to exchange thoughts.

Cheers :w3

[Andrew Aveley]

Thanks Robert for the great input. It is a indeed HH and also FF so room to improve the composition elements is the reason for my posting this image :bg3: Steve , thats why i enjoy posting images in this forum. The sharing of information and suggestions to improve are always constructive and positive. I am sure that using some of the more advanced PS skills could lead to maximizing the image in some way. At the moment i am of the opinion that less is more and as my knowledge grows i will hone these skills in both my Wildlife and Landscape photography. Like your signature line says , ' evoke more than it describes ':5

[Ken Watkins]

Andrew,

A beautiful shot showing the flatlands of Namibia in a very evocative way. I agree with Roberts comments, for me the flare is no problem, it is fairly obvious from the stripping in the sky which to my mind adds greatly to the image:cheers::cheers:

[Jay Gould]

Robert's comments are all spot on. I think you can crop out a lot of the FG and create a very pleasing pano.

[Rachel Hollander]

Andrew - a pleasing scene with the rays and color of the sky adding to the image. Good suggestions by Robert and I'm looking forward to a repost. There seems to be a bit of curvature at the horizon not sure if that's lens distortion?

TFS,
Rachel

[Morkel Erasmus]

Love the mood and light here Andrew...and of course love the setting :t3.
I agree with Robert on cropping the FG slightly as I immediately noticed the OOF section down there - yet is that due to focus or the wind?

[Andrew Aveley]

Thanks all for the great feedback and suggestions. Rachel , i was in a small depression between two overgrown dunes. Morkel , I was HH due to some gusts of wind band therefore some 'soft grass' but as pointed out by all , the OOF FG is very distracting. I have mad a repost and would appreciate the feedback on wether i have managed to make it a more pleasing image!

[Morkel Erasmus]

Repost rocks for me! :tinysmile_shy_t:
PS: will send you those pics tonight! :e3

[Robert Amoruso]

Yes Andrew, I like how it turned out.

I had not considered the FG grass was wind-blown; good eye Morkel.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Andrew, a little late getting to this one, but repost does it for me! I love the sun's rays through the cloud formations. Nice capture :S3:

[Rachel Hollander]

Repost is great!

[Jay Gould]

Bingo!! Since the image was HH, what tools in/on camera did you use for leveling? Bubble? I think it needs a bit of CW; I did a leveling of the light grass line on the RHS - I wasn't there; what do you think?

[Andrew Aveley]

Jay , It was not easy to level out as my POV was in between the two dunes and they run a differing angles. I tried looking at distant horizon but eventually just used the trees in the fg to get them 'vertical' and balance out the rest of the frame. The grass to the RHS is actually slightly uphill so I did a tiny correction in LR and used the 1st and 4th tree on rhs as main markers.

Thanks all for the kind comments and suggestions.

[Ken Watkins]

Andrew,

The repost takes this to another level, marvelous:cheers::cheers: