Here is one from my recent fall trip that was shot from a cliff top high above the Barron River in Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park. Not sure if this shot is completed yet or not. I should have shot it HDR, but did not. I am wondering if I should blend two images - one for highlights and one for shadows. Or do you think this one works as is?
If you want to open up the shadows some try Shadow/Highlights adjustment in PS. I tried it and that worked fine IMO. I would not open up shadows too much as it would look unnatural given the strong directional lighting.
The river creates a strong diagonal in the image the guides the eye. The strong directional light also helps pull the viewer through the image. I like the small brightly backlighted tree on the BG slope. It draws my attention but not so much that it keeps the eye there.
I agree with Robert - I don't think you want to open up the shadows too much in this shot. I would explore going the other direction - take the shadowed areas even darker to highlight that beautiful directional light.
Hi Andrew, good advice given above. Nicely divided comp with an appealing blast of light coming through the mist.I took this into PS and played with lightening the right corner. I put it into S/H and selected that area. I only brought it up 2-3 pts and felt that was more than sufficient to bring out just a bit more detail without killing the overall. Good play on light and shadow....
Hey Andrew,
I agree with the suggestions above opening up the shadows just a touch. You did a great job with the mist and fog and the strong light beam is sweet! I do think you can tweak the pines a bit.....to further strengthen the sweet light.....but nicely seen and very well handled overall.