Turnagain Arm

[Rachel Hollander]

Taken along Turnagain Arm outside Anchorage, Alaska in 2010 as the clouds and tide rolled in. I decided to play with some of the actions that Morkel posted a few days ago (Thanks again Morkel). After a luminosity mask, levels adjustment and leveling the horizon, I applied Hougaard Malan's Advanced LBM Contrast and his sharpening for web actions in CS5.

Canon 50D
16-35 @ 16mm
1/200
f7.1
IS0 200
EC +1
Tripod and CP.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Morkel Erasmus]

IQ looks much better than the last post, Rachel...:5
there were a few things that bugged me here, which I tried to address in this repost...

1. The clouds are just too bright. I know it probably was bright if it was mid-morning or afternoon and the sun illuminated them, but I would have gone for a more 'ominous' mood here, especially since you got some nice detail in the overcast clouds without blowing too many patches of the highlights.
2. The WB seems too warm for the conditions you describe and the 'look&feel' of the image overall.

So I duplicated the entire image to a new layer, and pulled midtones way to the RHS on the histogram using LEVELS. This darkened the sky and water a bit.
I then ran a normal "Robert" lumo mask on it, and painted back some with a white brush to get it looking like I wanted it to look.
Lastly I ran a cooling filter (about 15%)...

WDYT??
:e3

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Morkel but I actually prefer mine. It wasn't ominous. These weren't storm clouds, just a blanket of clouds. As they say in Alaska, you can get all 4 seasons in a day. So there was sun a few minutes earlier and again a few minutes later. Also while there's the slightest halo on the edge of the lhs mountain in mine, unfortunately your repost has augmented the halo.

Thanks as always for your suggestions and effort, just not what I was envisioning or looking to do this time.

Rachel

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks Morkel but I actually prefer mine. It wasn't ominous. These weren't storm clouds, just a blanket of clouds. As they say in Alaska, you can get all 4 seasons in a day. So there was sun a few minutes earlier and again a few minutes later. Also while there's the slightest halo on the edge of the lhs mountain in mine, unfortunately your repost has augmented the halo.

Thanks as always for your suggestions and effort, just not what I was envisioning or looking to do this time.

Rachel

Yeah I noticed the halo after posting. :bg3:
No problem Rachel - your vision, you were there, etc...:5
Even if you didn't want the clouds to be ominous, I still find the WB of the OP a tad yellow/brown for me (at least for what I envision Alaska to be) :e3

[Robert Amoruso]

Rachel,

I like your OP clouds too. Debating on the warm vs. cool look. As I recall my times in Alaska, warm light on an overcast day like this is certainly possible.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Morkel and Robert. Robert- this seems to be one of those times, I didn't warm it. Some of the browns are coming from the very muddy water too.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Vivaldo Damilano]

I also prefer the OP, love the smooth still water in this image and the reflection of the mountains TFS:cheers:

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Vivaldo, much appreciated.

[Jay Gould]

Hi Rachael, I too like you OP having seen this scene in person. There is a halo along the LHS hills that I would consider addressing. Also, while I know they are there, I would remove the white "dots" (the houses) along the roadside, and the bright white spot in the LHS foreground. The foreground spot keeps catching my eye.

This is a story about the Turnagain Arm; anything that catches/distracts you eye from following the water to the far mountains I would remove as not being part of the story.

[Andrew Aveley]

soft warm feel to a cool location. Like the work you have done and the overall image quality !

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Jay and Andrew

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Rachel, Another vote for the OP too. I have encountered light such as this on over cast days before...not too often, but it is lovely when it does occur. Just for fun have you considered a B&W version as an alternate to this one.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Andrew. Hadn't thought about b&w, may have to play with it this weekend.

Rachel