light spillover

[Gary Hamilton]

I was taking early morning images of fall foliage in Yellowstone in 2009 and happened upon this downed tree. As I worked the scene I found that by getting low the sun's first rays could be seen spilling over the log onto the surrounding foliage. I've never been sure what to make of this image so I'll throw it out for discussion. All c/c welcome.

Canon 1D MK III
Canon 24-70mm
ISO 250
SS 1/200th sec
f/8

[Ken Childs]

Hi Gary, I like this as is but I think it has the potential to look really awesome and I don't think it will take much to get it there! If this were mine, I would give it a CW rotation to get the log level and then hit it with a substantial contrast boost. I think that will give those rays much more impact. :S3:

[Julie Kenward]

Gary, I have looked at this image about half a dozen times and was trying to figure out what I liked about it and what I didn't like. For me, the overall image is too washed out. I love the light flowing over the top but it is overkill on parts of the image to the point that it almost hurt my eyes. So...I took it for a whirl to see what I could do with it.

First, a tonal contrast adjustment followed by a color contrast adjustment in Color Efex Pro 4.
Next, I opened up the bottom right corner and bottom edge of the frame with Viveza.
I did a few other minor tweaks to balance out the image (evened up the log and toned down the blue cast to its surface) and then finished by burning the bottom edge a bit with an action called "Painting with Light". Here's what I came up with:

[Gary Hamilton]

Thanks for the suggestions and repost. Julie, I was just in the process of applying Ken's suggestions to the image when your version appeared. I really like what you did, which is way beyond my PP skills.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Gary. This was a very nice find! The light streaming over the log is very cool and you have lots of colorful plants that add interest. I like the OP, but the repost by Jules has taken this image up several notches, IMO and has made it very dramatic!

[Brendan Dozier]

Awesome light & comp, Gary, and great job on the repost!

[Gary Hamilton]

I took another shot at this one. Thanks for all of your help and comments.