Tatoosh and Paintbrush.

[dankearl]

Just spent a few days on Mt. Rainier in Washington state.
Have a lot of images to process, but I liked this one which is the Mountain
Range to the south of Rainier, The Tatoosh.
The Wildflower season was in peak in mid-September!
Taken at Paradise lodge after sunset.

.4 sec.
f22
25mm (nikon 18-105mm on D7000)
ISO400
Saved at 46 quality.

DSC_1357nx.jpg

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Dan - I like the glow on the distant mountains and how you used the break in the trees as a leading line. Nicely seen and captured.

TFS,
Rachel

[Jeff Parker]

Beautiful scene and nice alpenglow. The paintbrush don't seem to be quite sharp. Maybe a little movement? I'd be tempted to try cropping a little from the left, you've got some branches poking into the frame and it would move the mountain out of dead center.

[Robert Amoruso]

Dan,

I can't say this is working for me.

I believe an image like this needs acceptable sharpness near to far and even at f/22 you are not getting it. Many times you have to employ alternate methods (image focus stacking) or equipment (tilt-shift lens or view camera) to get it.

The light is just not working here. The trees are in deep shadow.

Compositionally, I feel the FG flower clipping hurts the image. IMO it is best to get a clean cut on the stalk - yes I now it is tough to find that one scene that works in. Also the farthest peak is intersected by a tree. I would have moved the camera right a tad to give that peak a clear view.

[dankearl]

Thanks for the comments.
Robert, I appreciate the honesty, that is why I come here.
I agree with your critique also. I knew it had potential which is why I used f22 as
my goal was to get it all sharp, but I had to set up too close, there was just some gravel in front of the wildflowers I did not want
in the foreground.
The trees were always blocking one peak or another where ever I moved.
The Western skies are also really hazy from all the wildfires, so I used iso400 to get some
blue in the sky instead of a total washout from a slow SS at f22.
I eventually used a flash fill for some shots to "freeze" the flowers but they didn't work out.
Good observations.

[Arthur Morris]

Going wider and using HDR capture was the way to go. Good that you are open to Robert's comments as they are right on.