Earlier this fall I was doing an evening hike at Watkins Lake State Park, Michigan and fell in love with this hay field that had already been harvested. The large bales were still in the field and with the sunset pending, it provided a great opportunity to get some great shots of the field and storm clouds at sunset. Because of the dynamic range between the darkening fields and the sunset glow in the sky I took a three image bracket and combined them in LR Classic to get a solid exposure.
What technical feedback would you like if any? Any is welcome
What artistic feedback would you like if any? Any is welcome
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn) The image was captured using a Canon EOS R camera on tripod and 24mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art 015 lens: 24mm, ¹⁄₃₂₀₀ sec at f/8.0 and bracketed 1.5 stops on either side, ISO 400, and processed in LR Classic.
If you would like your image to be eligible for a feature on the NPN Instagram (@NaturePhotoNet), add the tag ‘ig’ and leave your Instagram username below.
What a peaceful looking scene, Terrance. The mood looking out over the fields is very serene and contrasts very nicely with the drama in the sky. I only have two minor suggestions; #1 is a small crop from the top and #2 is to lighten the FG and treeline just a little. I hope you do not mind, but here is a repost with what I was thinking.
A beautiful scene, Terrance - very romantic or, perhaps, very Romantic. I do think that Ed’s rework strengthens the image overall and mirrors exactly the suggestions I would make.
Amazing colors and shapes in those clouds, and your processing certainly does justice to these beautiful weather conditions. The exposure blend essentially looks natural, although I like the subtle increase in foreground luminosity in the rework by @Ed_Lowe.
If you were making a large print of this, there is some very slight halo-ing in the treeline (noticeable only upon very close inspection). If you still have your exposure bracket layers intact, I would do some repetitive low opacity passes of both white and black brushes over the tree line to smooth out the halos a bit.
Thanks everyone for the great comments. I do like the crop suggestion but on the treeline lightening suggestion I have some thoughts. When I first processed the image I did lighten the trees but it didn’t seem natural since the sunset was behind them and the side facing me was pretty dark. I will play with it some more. I really fell in love with the clouds and the way they pull you right into the sunset. I was fortunate to get a shot when the clouds were obscuring the sunset - without them the highlights would have been really blown out.
@Terrance_Alexander thanks for sharing this! I messed about with the foreground a bit but when I exported it something wasn’t right and I had to take off for work. I attempted to add a touch of contrast to the foreground with the idea of highlighting the last bits of light that are touching the tops of those hills. I used 4 layers, and some free hand painting. The first was a curves layer to brighten, I painted this in on the tops of the hills. The second was a curves layer to darken, I painted this in on the more shaded areas of the hills. Then I created a dodge layer and used a lightly saturated color from the yellow/orange bits of the sky to just accentuate the colors a bit on the hill tops and finally a little bit of burning to continue darkening down the foreground a bit more. There was such energy in the sky that I felt the foreground needed a touch of contrast to match that. It also helped to create some separation and definition between the hill in the front and the hills in the back. I will see if I can export it tonight!
- thanks for taking a good look at the image. I tried some of your ideas and the contrast in the foreground hills looks good in relation to the clouds. I also did a little lightening of the treeline shadows based on several reviews. Here is a revised edit of the image
