Copied from Landscapes: Opinions please!

[Jay Gould]

Hello All,

During a recent 7-day landscape workshop on Norfolk Island, Australia with Trekabout (http://www.trekaboutphotography.com/) I started to experiment with using the Singh Ray Vari ND at minimum setting to hold down the glare on the water while also using the SR Grad ND to hold down the sky as the sun did what it usually does ;).

Camera: 5D2
Capture date/time: 101111
Light condition: dawn
Lens: 16-35 f/2.8
Focal length:35mm
Distance: 655m
Extender: none
Tube: none
Flash/Comp:
ISO: 100
Exp Prog: Av
Speed: 0.6
Aperture: f/18
Exp Comp: none
Metering: Evaluative
WB: Auto
AF Drive: One-shot AF
Tripod: yes
Filter: Singh Ray Vari ND, and 3-stop Grad ND
Crop: 20-25% off of the top
Images Changes: none

Processed in LR 3 and then CS5, Topaz Denoise, and Pixel Genius Sharpening.

All C&Cs gratefully appreciated!

[Tim Munsey]

Fantastic colours! I would personally like a little more on the bottom.

Tim

[Marc Mol]

Love the coloured layers in the clouds Jay, agree on just a bit more rock FG.
TFs

[Jay Gould]

Through the magic of LR and PS your wish is my command! :D

I like it too with more rock; it rocks!!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jay,
Glad to see you here! The first suggestions would have been mine.....so the repost works but still needs a few small &easy tweaks to take it over the top....at the bottom frame edge....you have a few spots of color....2 larger ones and 2 small one.....fill that in.....and you've got a winner for sure! BTW.....I have debated the LH side rocks for a bit.....I am OK with them but do wonder if you took some with more of it in? All in all a very nice job and glad to see you back!!!

[Dave Mills]

Hey Jay, welcome back!! nice hearing from you...especially with a nicely presented image. Had the same observation about the bottom when I first saw the image then scrolled down and saw it too my liking. Agree about Roman's suggestion for a fill in on the bottom but nicely done overall...

[Slider27]

Nice work Jay. I have some with the same colour and thought I had overcooked them until I saw yours. The colour was very real and well worth the early start. :o

[Jay Gould]

Hi,

Thanks for the comments.

Roman, I initially left those bits of light to because they had color and gave definition to the rocks. If I remove the the light spots it all becomes black at the bottom. When you say more rocks, I can do one of two things: 1) simply extend the black canvass, or 2) using, for example, Viveza, open up/lighten the rocks.

I can simply uncrop the bottom of this image and add more "rocks" - a bit more anyway!

I can also add more of the hill on the LHS.

Unfortunately, as with all golden moments, the ones with significantly more rocks have lesser skies.

I think I am going to attempt a blend using this great sky with one that has much better foreground. Will take a day or so to do. Perhaps I should have had this in ETL.

Later!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jay,
As always....subjective but I want the base to be black!.....a huge fan of silhouettes....so it may be a personal preference thing. I think if you fill those things in the contour of the FG becomes a nice base for the colors! No need to go into ETL(sorry Jules!)......works great here....although if you like I can copy it there too so they can benefit from the advice and give their thoughts as well! I had a gut feeling the area to the left wouldn't add.....but had to ask just so others can learn from the advice. Just remember....all we do here is offer suggestions.....what you do with them is up to you!!! Our goal here in landscapes is to offer you possibilites and options to explore when in the field........to think! All these things only make us all better photogs IMO and kep us fresh....me included!!! my friend!

[Jay Gould]

ETL: up to you Mr. Moderator!! :D I have no trouble double posting.

I will post a quick version filling in the spots between the rocks, adding more black/rocks that I cropped out initially, and adding more to the left that I had eliminated.

We all learn all of the time!

PS: Tell James we need a different icon with port glasses!

[Roman Kurywczak]

I don't know about the port glasses....you have no idea what it took to get the clanking beer glasses.....and these too! I think I will copy it!

[Jay Gould]

OK, here is the repost I did taking into account the various comments. The sky is not enhanced; the only crop "now" is from the top down to the color.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Another WOOOOOOHOOOOO!!! here. Repost rocks!!!