Swiftcurrent Lake and Mount Gould

[Rachel Hollander]

What a difference a year of BPN advice and suggestions make. I took this last August in Glacier National Park and now realize that my settings were totally off for landscape . If I was shooting this now I would have stopped down significantly, slowed the ss and used a lower ISO. Still it was good pp practice for me and I really like the warm sunrise lighting and the light and shadows of the image. Selective dodging and burning, LCE and sharpening.

Canon 50D
16-35 @ 31mm
f2.8
1/2000
ISO 800
EC -1.0
Tripod from a balcony, CP.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Andrew Aveley]

And we all learn every day This is a great scene and one i wish to capture one day in this awesome National Park. I found recently that there is a hidden little CS tool called the sponge in tool palette (shift + o) and using it the same way as a dodge/burn tool you can add just a little saturation to those areas that need a little boost :) Quick and easy. I added some local contract to this as well. TFS

[Steve Kaluski]

Very nice Rachel, a cracking view. Personally I feel you could be a bit more contrasty with Curves and a little more warmth. I just increased the blacks a little more in the Cyan & Blues for the sky as a mask. BTW not sure if it's a slight halo or an optical look, but check the contour line of the RH mountain.

Hopefully I am sure Robert & Andrew will be able to add more to this thread.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Andrew and Steve for the comments and reposts. Not on my calibrated monitor right now so will have to take another look when I get home. Andrew - the increase in sat is a bit much for my taste but I see where you were going and will also take a look at the tool you suggest.

Steve - thanks, I see the "halo" now too, will have to look at the original to see if it is there.

Rachel

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Rachel, this is a lovely scene. You did very well with the f2.8 I might take half an inch off the top to put more emphasis on the mountains. I see the halo also. If it were mine I think I would apply Nik's 'tonal contrast' filter to the mountain range first to see if that help with the contrast there. I like Steve's repost due to the darker tone of the mountains.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Andrew. I like Steve's repost too. I don't have the Nik software but I'll play around in CS5.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Gary Hamilton]

What a gorgeous scene--I could stare at it all day. I hope that a little more tinkering in PP will really make it come alive. This image reminds me of when my wife and I hiked up to Grinnell Glacier (to right of center, I believe) in 2000 with our (then) 11 month-old twins on our backs--an 8 mile round trip hike. I can't wait to go back with my twins now that they are old enough to appreciate the beauty of this park (and see lots of grizzlies too!). Thanks for taking me back to the summer of 2000.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Gary, I'm glad it helped revive fond memories. Btw the boats across the 2 lakes cut that hike in about half.

Rachel

[Robert Amoruso]

Rachel,

I am liking the IQ of this image over ones you posted a few weeks back. Steve's tweaking really helped it along.

Compositionally, I feel this is done well. The s-curve of the shore brings one eye into the scene. I like where you cut the mountains on the uphill sides and not a downhill.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Rachel, very nice scene indeed! All those crossing diagonals makes this very pleasing to look at. I think this would have worked well with more midday light, which probably would have reduced the amount of shadowy areas. Great sharpness for 2.8! I like the more saturated looks of the tweaked images. The shadows on the far mountains could use a little NR. Did you use USM for the sharpening? I found in some recent images that this can lead to slight halo's around darker subjects against a bright sky.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Robert and Jerry for the comments and suggestions. Jerry - I used USM only for the LCE.

Rachel

[Ed Cordes]

Good suggestions above for this lovely and well composed scene. I agree the most important suggestion is more contrast esp in the BG mountain.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Ed.

[Gary Hamilton]

Thanks Gary, I'm glad it helped revive fond memories. Btw the boats across the 2 lakes cut that hike in about half.

Rachel

Boats are for wimps--lol!!!

[Morkel Erasmus]

Rachel this definitely is a step up from your previous postings here. Great light, colours and details. The tweaks suggested will certainly help you improve your landscape processing skills too.
I hope I too can visit these awesome scenic places in North America one day...

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Morkel and btw thanks for the link to the sharpening actions (though I did not use it on this one).

[Santanu Banik]

Nice composition - loved the repost by Steve.