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DPChallenge Forums >> Individual Photograph Discussion >> Help me re-PP my July FS Entry - Sandia Mountains
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Showing posts 1 - 14 of 14, (reverse)
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 08/08/2009 08:37:18 AM · #1
I had a fun trip in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA last month. I have tons of cool shots, but really wanted to enter a Mountain-scape in an Ansel Adams style. Here is my entry, which did only so-so, and got a whooping 1 comment :(



Anyway, although orginal is kind of flat and hazy, I still think there is potential here for a better final image if post-processed with a little more skill. Anyone up for giving it a try?

Original JPEG is below. I can mail the raw file if anyone is intersted (or if anyone can tell me how to load a raw file DPC)

08/08/2009 09:33:38 AM · #2
I'll give it a try.



What I did is in the details.
 08/08/2009 09:35:07 AM · #3
i'm in abq. did you take that from the top of the tram or from the plane?

edit: i see where the tram should be so it must be from the plane :)

Message edited by author 2009-08-08 10:02:58.
 08/08/2009 11:34:10 AM · #4
Originally posted by desertoddity:
i'm in abq. did you take that from the top of the tram or from the plane?

edit: i see where the tram should be so it must be from the plane :)


If I recall correctly, I was about 5 miles West of the airport right near Route 40. I found a high ridge near some new housing developoment that had a nice view looking east-northeast to the base of the Sandia Mountains. The big building is the Sandia Casino and the Tram is out of the photo on the right. I drove around for about 20 minutes before I could find this unobstructed view, as there were lots of houses and high transmission lines all over the ridge that I was on.

Message edited by author 2009-08-08 11:37:55.
 08/08/2009 11:35:52 AM · #5
Originally posted by cpanaioti:
I'll give it a try.



What I did is in the details.


This is nice. I had B&W on the brain and did not try to see what could be done in color.
 08/08/2009 12:10:40 PM · #6
Details in comments:



There is some artifacting that would not be present if working from RAW...

R.

Message edited by author 2009-08-08 12:11:38.
 08/08/2009 12:31:10 PM · #7
I love clouds, first time I see a wisp in the sky, I pack everyone in the Mini Van and go and play.

I love dark dramatic clouds, they are so my thing. I use a lot of selective colour and hue and saturations beofre I turn it into black and white. then do some dodge and burn.

I would love your raw file to play with if you don't mind??
 08/08/2009 12:42:19 PM · #8
08/08/2009 01:11:01 PM · #9
I did a bunch from a similar location when I was there in March. Some of them I could not get what I wanted out of and they are still on my hard drive. Some others became personal faves.

I have your shot open in PaintShop Pro right now and the first thing I noticed was the histogram is severely clipped on both ends, resulting in poor dynamic range. Though I am sure you adjusted this in your editing, I find when my exposure adjustments are good in the RAW converter, that I have to do little (if any) levels adjustment afterwards.


I think you did get a bit of that Ansel-Adamsy look to it, but like many of my own entries, something about it failed to capture the attention of people. It still did way better than the similar Sandia mountains shot my daughter entered in the March FS. I suggested adjusting her WB differently, but she liked it this way.


Message edited by author 2009-08-08 13:22:04.
 08/08/2009 01:27:04 PM · #10


I mostly just concentrated on the clouds, i did crop and left teh white bits in as it reminded me of sparkly night lights

Message edited by author 2009-08-08 13:28:16.
 08/08/2009 01:27:13 PM · #11


Quick 5 minute Job :)
 08/08/2009 02:36:22 PM · #12
Here's my edit. I kinda went to town on this and worked it as if I were preparing it for a challenge. Steps are in the notes. I didn't pull as much "wow" out of the mountains as I would have liked, but I was trying to keep it real.


Message edited by author 2009-08-08 14:38:50.
 08/08/2009 05:59:34 PM · #13


i dont like how my version turned out but whatever. i like your black and white and bear's
 08/10/2009 08:27:10 AM · #14
Thanks for all the edits. Interesting that about half of you left in the lower part with the buildings and half used a crop similar to mine. Having the buildings there, while not as striking image (I think), gives a sense of scale that is missing on the croppped version. Also interseting that some went for the wild and edgy look on the clouds and some went softer and more subtle. I am still torn between color vs. B&W and will have to play around some more with the image before I select something that I would hang on the wall.

Again, Thanks for the idea/thoughts
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