Obviously this isn't a bird but I wanted to submit it to this forum because I'm "eager to learn" more about landscape photography. This is early morning at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, just outside Las Vegas and about 15 minutes from my house. We usually have clear skies but when there are clouds, they're gorgeous. I thought about cropping out the FG green area---yes/no?? Slightly cropped, levels, S/H and USM...
Canon 40D; 1/4000; f4.5; ISO 800; 100-400 @100 (was looking for birds and didn't have a shorter lens with me)
hi katie!! i love landscapes and i think this one is pretty awesome!! i took it into capture nx and worked on it a bit. first thing i did was use the gradient tool on the sky. i darkened it and added some contrast. then i worked on the different layers of the mountains and added some contrast to the different colors to make them pop. then i cropped the bottom just a bit to cut the bush in about the same amount as it was cut on the right of the frame. best to have the entire bush and not cut it at all, but didnt have a choice here. then i used the gradient tool again, but in reverse from the bottom up and added some light and a little contrast to make your visitor a little more visible. lastly!! i added just a tick of contrast to the entire image and subtracted that bluish cast from the foreground. sorry so long winded but wanted to be thorough. and i hope you like it!!
no problem!! i enjoyed working on it. obviously it could have been better with the RAW capture, but you get the idea!! good luck with it. dont hesitate to post stuff in the landscape forum. those guys are good!!!
Harold to the rescue !!! I like it a lot !! btw you can take it even further and work on the clouds.
Use the lasso tool to select large portions of the sky, then feather the selection 50 pixels and darkened. Procedure repeated several times. For very small areas might want to feather only 20 or so. Heavy feathering is the key.
Love the image Katie Excellent composition and well executed
From Calico Basin
