I screwed this up... - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

03/08/2008 09:47:25 PM · #1

...any advice/tips on what may have worked better?

I grabbed this shot on the way home from work. A storm was just clearing out and everything was covered with ice. The sun was low and off to the right really lighting up the trees.

The thing I wanted to convey in this shot was the scale of the storm. I loved the way the slopes of the two distant hills were illuminated just on the ridges. The sky was pretty awesome too! One of those times where I found it really difficult to capture and display the beauty as seen with the naked eye.

I did try and "cool" this off some and reduced the warmth of the sunlight in post-processing.

As always - comments and suggestions are very much appreciated. Thanks! :-)

Entry:

Original:
[thumb]655850[/thumb]

dwterry

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

03/08/2008 10:05:53 PM · #2

I think you did good on the editing. I dunno what you could do different to portray the storm other than switch to a wider lens. I like your Unfazed Glaze image. Well done there.

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

03/08/2008 10:28:49 PM · #3

Thanks David - I appreciate your comments.

jpochard

Canon EOS-40D

03/08/2008 10:29:01 PM · #4

I liked what you did with it.

I don't normally fool around with editing others stuff, but here's what I came up with

[thumb]655889[/thumb]

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

03/08/2008 10:34:17 PM · #5

Originally posted by jpochard:

I liked what you did with it.

I don't normally fool around with editing others stuff, but here's what I came up with

[thumb]655889[/thumb]

Hey! Thanks Judi. :-) Looks like you de-emphasized the sky a little. That works to bring the attention to the trees more.

jpochard

Canon EOS-40D

03/08/2008 10:39:28 PM · #6

In either case it really is a lovely scene, and I can see why you took the photo. I'll bet seeing it on a small screen doesn't help with getting the feeling you're after. I'll bet on a nice size print this would have a vastly different effect. I "stretched" it a bit for a more panoramic view and darkened it a bit. Not much else.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

03/08/2008 10:53:18 PM · #7

Here's a different take on it. probably too exaggerated, but what the heck...

Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX-DC HSM

03/08/2008 11:02:17 PM · #8

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Here's a different take on it. probably too exaggerated, but what the heck...

R.

Thanks Robert! That really pops and certainly highlights the ice. That far right cloud section kept bothering me (wanting to blow out if pushed), I like how you toned it down. The blue in the upper left is probably a tad strong for my liking - but in the end, I bet this exaggerated look could have picked the score up a bit. :-)

Shadowi6

Nikon D200

03/08/2008 11:51:41 PM · #9

I'm thinking that the best way to improve this scene is to drop the ice idea altogether, it just really isn't coming across as an icy landscape. I think it needs something icy in the foreground to help lead the scene. I would work with what you have and change the direction of the photo. Also as you mentioned the large area of sky just distracts from the shot.

My take on the shot

[thumb]655919[/thumb]

citymars

Nikon D700

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

03/09/2008 12:19:06 AM · #10

Btw, I don't think you screwed it up to begin with. Just my 2 cents.

Bosborne

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

03/09/2008 12:44:07 AM · #11

I agree with citymars. I like the original because of that yellow light.
Seems like the sun was getting one more burst of heat to try and melt the ice.
Love the shot!

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

03/09/2008 12:44:50 AM · #12

At least at DPC-entry scale, the ice is so hard to recognize that I didn't consider it the subject, but rather used it to help take advantage of and highlight that beautiful sunset light raking in from the right. There is a variety of textures in nice horizontal layers; I see no reason to not emphasize those.

I debated about the crop, but I ultimately felt that the panoramic shape not only made the scene feel wider, but it creates a natural "channel" for the eye to follow from left-to-right. To me, the relatively straight upper and lower boundaries with the rounded clouds in the middle almost seem to fling the eye across the screen, as if following a cannon shot (pun intended) ...

I did this with Curves, a couple of them through masks/selections, and Unsharp Mask. more specifics in the image details.