Nothing New Here
This is for the HDR theme. So a two image HDR which causes a lot of noise. So used Imagemonic to smooth it out. Converted it to B and W because there were some dead trees that I found highly distracting in colour. Tried to get the whole dynamic range in, and slight rotation and crop. Always use NIK darken lighten center on most of my images to pull the viewer in to the center. Not too sure about the crop here. Comments Appreciated.
Last edited by Jackie Schuknecht; 06-19-2010 at 10:35 PM.
Jackie, sure looks like you got all the zones in there! Very dramatic b&w you got from the two images. The crop is difficult, but I like how Yosemite Falls and El Capitan frame the valley. Not sure how you could crop a vertical much better than this, and I do like the portrait orientation and the deep focus you achieved.
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
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Jackie, I like this very much. For some reason I feel the center is a tiny bit "muddy". I do like the composition and the dramatic sky. Lets see what others say.:)
Good one! I like the idea of doing B&W and HDR. The tonal range is incredible. I also like that you were able to get the far mountain in the background in such clear focus. Must have been a relatively clear day! Great job on cleaning up the noise. I like the composition, but think maybe some of the tree area could be trimmed off the bottom?
Nice work, I haven't done many B & W's, love the tones and the sky....way to go jackie
Thanks for the suggestions and comments. I cropped a bit from the bottom, and masked back in some detail that the NR took out in the center. Hope this looks better.
Jackie, I think it does look better.:)
Good catch D, I think it improves the image. The NR goes to town on the smoother areas and seems to keep the sharp areas sharp. I always have a tough time cropping my own pics (but not other's).:D
Very nice HDR, Jackie. It is always tough to get a different view of a most photographed vista. The clouds and the b/w adds much depth to this image. Very nicely done.
Hey Jackie,
I think the B&W conversion was a great choice. I took your repost and went even further....hope you don't mind. I did a bunch of levels layers.....lighten the mountains....increase some contrast and then some selective one on the fg and mg....increasing the contrast by using the white and black sliders in levels as well as the midtone one. 8 layers in all as well as a slight bit of dodging and burning. Nothing done to the sky area! I think your overall comp of a classic is fantastic as the clouds add to the overall scene. You can go nuts trying to tweak B&W's....figured I'd give you a peak to some further tweaks. Let me know either way!
I think the repost looks great. It has eliminated the muddy look all together and really illuminated the image. The original base image was a winner but now it is a shinning winner!
Really like the tweaks Roman. I think it gives it a lot more depth and pop. How did you make the selections to work on the various areas. Lasso and refine edge? I see your point now D.
Hey Jackie,Originally Posted by Jackie Schuknecht
I will confess to being a sloppy PP'er! I use the lasso tool and then perhaps the magic wand to tweak the selection even more.....but only when I have to be careful (like at the mountain ridge line). I used mostly levels layers.....using the white and black sliders first....tweaking the midtone one last if I felt it was too dark. This increases contrast in itself but on the mountains I also did a separate brightness/contrast tweak. I also dodged the tip of the ridge.....fading each one.....just to define it's edge a bit better. Hope this helps and glad you liked the tweaks!
Very nice B&W scene, Jackie. I like how your eye is led in to the distant waterfall. Roman's repost looks great, I think the added contrast gave it just the pop it needed. I might just tone down the white spots in the clouds a little, I find they draw my eye a bit since they are the brightest spots in the image.
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