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C_Steve_G


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Non-Ribboner's Landscape/Seascape/Cityscape (Standard Editing*)
Collection: Challenges
Camera: Apple iPhone SE
Location: Sonoma County, California
Date: Mar 16, 2020
Aperture: f 2.2
ISO: 25
Shutter: 1/150
Date Uploaded: Mar 20, 2020

 Snapped this before leaving the park; a few days later decided to submit for this challenge, mostly because it fit the challenge. I'm disappointed that the number of entries is so small, because it means more to fare well among many instead of a few.

Most editing completed in Lightroom Mobile, final resize and sharpen in Photoshop.

Thanks for commenting.

------- (After rollover) ---------------------------------------
So, there it is, my first ribbon.
Again, thanks for all the views and comments.

Image was shot in RAW, I let Lightroom auto-adjust the lighting, then scaled back the correction a bit. Tried some burn in the foreground to accent the rolling lay of the ground, perhaps should have done more. Burned the valley in the distance, as it's more industrial, and didn't fit the theme. Applied clarity, vibrance, and dehaze in the clouds. Dodged the highlights in the trees on the right.

Voting was in the high sixes through Friday, but the last 20 votes brought it where I agree it belongs.
I struggled with adopting many of the suggestions as given, but never was satisfied.

P.S., no offense taken at all, appreciate the honesty.

Statistics
Place: 3 out of 6
Avg (all users): 6.6623
Avg (participants): 7.0000
Avg (non-participants): 6.6438
Views since voting: 703
Views during voting: 246
Votes: 77
Comments: 29
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 04/04/2020 03:12:06 PM
Gorgeous. Congratulations'
 04/01/2020 10:06:07 PM
The one thing about DPC voters is that you can count on them to be brutally honest about their opinions on what a photo should or should not look like. Sometimes they sting (when they’re given constructively by photographers who have work to make them credible mentors), and sometimes they can just make you feel like crap when they’re not. I think we’ve ALL been on the receiving end of both types of critiques. But, I will say, in my own personal case, the ones given constructively that stung (painfully at times)... those are the ones that helped me grow as a photographer, making me pay more attention to eeeeeeeeevery (single) detail in an image! This is a beautiful image, well-deserving of a ribbon, and I’m so glad it won! With some tweaks attentive to some of the critiques, it would be a winner in any challenge! Congratulations!!! I hope to see your work in the winners’ circle regularly!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2020 05:01:31 AM
Well done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2020 04:48:10 AM
Fabulous clouds. Many congrats on your ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2020 04:27:31 AM
Congrats on your first ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2020 04:27:30 AM
Congrats on your first ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
03/30/2020 08:43:57 PM
Sky color is very nice, and the mound on the right is lighted well
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/29/2020 08:14:37 PM
Beautiful light coming the the clouds.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/29/2020 04:40:14 PM
what a dramatic sky!
I know I'm very sensitive about tilted horizons and this one is tilted ot the right imo - if only a tiny degree.
Also I would have cropped this scene more boldly:
on the left side including the first orange cloud, on the right side about half of the trees and at the bottom at least half of the green field.
Eventually this is my personal taste and others might give a different feedback
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/29/2020 02:33:18 PM
i'm loving the foreboding feel of this scene .. even if it probably didnt feel that way when you were standing there taking the photo ..
the clouds are MAGNIFICENT btw .. the colours of the setting sun just beautiful .. great shot .. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/29/2020 01:24:02 PM
Hello, I am assuming the main subject is the orange light on the clouds since your title says that. But as a main subject, the clouds fall short. They are way too contrasty and too hard edged. There are too many other elements of equal visual weight in the image. They are all competing and none of them are interesting. The whole image is too dark and too contrasty to be appealing. The left and right sides of the frame are balanced well. I think some dodging in the grass foreground could have a big impact. This needs something that leads the eye, and unfortunately there isn't one here. Since there is not a foreground subject, getting a lower perspective may have helped. Having some closer texture of the grass in the foreground would help out a lot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/29/2020 12:44:30 PM
For myself personally, I think this is very good. I would have loved to have seen some more highlights,lightness in the foreground, a bit of dodge and burn a leading light maybe?. Adjusting contrast and exposure in a different layer could have helped with this. The sky is gorg, I love moddy sky's. but saturation and boosting of the colours, would have made this tad more dramatic. But then again, I am a lover of the dramatic. I love how this is pin sharp, you did an amazing job on that. In a Free study I would have given this a 5, in this case as it is a top 2 for me, 7.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/29/2020 08:14:11 AM
So this would have been my reluctant 1-b. But it still would have gotten a 5 from me in any other challenge. The good news is that I get what you're trying to show me - it's a lovely sky. But the processing is very heavy handed and way over-saturated. I could live with it in the sky if you'd pulled back the greens. I'd also like to see some of the details in the shadowed areas, both near and distant.

Making a picture has two primary steps - taking the photo and printing it. You took a decent photo, so now you need to work on how you print it. You need to dive deeper into the digital darkroom. The sky is the star here but you did nothing to highlight the supporting players (other than the grass which is essentially a extra here that would be better ignored). Isolate the darker areas and show us what's there, if only a little. Let us see how that little bit of valley rolls out underneath. Learn to use a subtle hand to show the viewer something instead of burying it in shadow and color. Every part of the frame is important even if it's only to barely be there. Give it the attention it needs. Let us look at the little things as the sky draws our eyes back to it. As is, my eye keeps going down to the mass of green.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/28/2020 04:41:42 PM
Very pretty light! I believe the horizon is slightly tilted but I love the colors.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/28/2020 11:05:49 AM
Formidable sky and assuredly delivers the last light. The houses are crowded in by the immensity of nature. Diminutive and anxious. I'm not sure whether the foreground green expanse helps the rest of the image or not. On the one hand it adds to the predominant expansiveness, yet on the other hand the bright color is a bit jarring. The feel for nature's grandeur, though, is apparent.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/27/2020 06:55:24 PM
I love the drama on the horizon, it really pops well.
I expect this to be a top 3 finisher for sure :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/27/2020 12:58:59 PM
You certainly got the spirit of this silent place
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/27/2020 09:45:36 AM
Nice combination of landscape and cityscape. Good detail in the clouds. Panoramics don't usually display well on DPC because of the size limitation; if I was editing this I might crop just a little more from the bottom to emphasize the light.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/26/2020 11:14:27 PM
Great clouds and sunset. The lower 1/2 of the picture can be selectively lightened for more interest. Otherwise not bad.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/26/2020 08:15:05 AM
you are my #3
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/26/2020 04:40:52 AM
My pick for 2nd place, if you had lifted the shadow detail up a tad you would of improved this shot, also a tighter crop turns this into a landscape instead of a skyscape.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/25/2020 10:11:44 PM
Lovely clouds. The trees at the right and left are trying to draw my eyes away from it, though.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/25/2020 10:10:34 PM
Fabulous sky! To me the green looks too green - but then, I am an Australian and more used to brown grass. My pick for the yellow.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/25/2020 05:06:03 PM
I like the sky and the evening sun on the tree at the right side. The foreground is a little too dark in my opinion, I would have tried to increase the exposure of the dark tones in pp. 6
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/25/2020 01:21:44 PM
Those clouds are AMAZING (a little over-saturated). The center of the image is way too dark and we can barely see what it is. With some processing this could easily be fixed. The foreground (grass) could improve this image a lot if processed better. It adds a wavy composition to the whole (brighter and with some dodge and burn to add depth in it). 2 extra point for the purpose of this challenge. An 8 from me (6+2) and my Yellow Dragon Award
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/25/2020 11:13:14 AM
Lovely colors! That sky is gorgeous!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/25/2020 07:19:41 AM
Absolutely gorgeous sky. I think I would have cropped more of the foreground out to let the sky have an even bigger presence.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/25/2020 07:04:38 AM
My pick for red in this challenge.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/25/2020 12:33:19 AM
I really love that sky and those clouds are magnificent. It seems a little bit too contrasty for my liking though, maybe adjusting the highlights would’ve enhanced the shrubs at the front or maybe that’s how you liked it who knows. There also doesn’t seem to be a lot of clarity in the background.

Taken towards sunset or sunrise who knows that is a positive. Anyway pretty sure this is the red.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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