"And Now For Something Completely Different"

Probably few on this forum are old enough to know who Monty Python is. The lenticular lightshow was about over when I noticed the clouds rolling across the opposite valley treeline. So wide angle went into bag and out came the 80-200. I went B&W because the overhead sun completely messed with the colors.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

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Damn. I must have been asleep at the wheel while you were shooting this beauty, Mike. The layering works really well here as does the atmospherics with the swirling fog; especially that curl in the URC. Of course the crepuscular rays are gorgeous, but what elevates this image another notch is the specular high lights in the grasses and the trees. Great call with the B&W BTW.

Thanks @Ed_Lowe. To be totally honest, I did not see this scene while I was shooting. This is a crop of a wider horizontal to emphasize the rays, which I did not see in the field with my bad vision.

When the pink/purple clouds and light show ended, I saw you pull your telephoto out of your camera bag, and then I did the same thing myself. I did “see” this fog, and composed some similar scenes at a focal length of 200mm plus a 1.4X converter for an effective focal length of 280mm. I love how the backlit fog is threading through the trees at the base of the mountain, and swirling above the top of the trees. I think the conversion to B&W is an absolutely inspired idea, my color images similar to this also have really funky colors from the sun, just like you said. I was beginning to wonder if any of them would be usable, but your idea of converting to B&W is brilliant, and I will have to give that a go myself.

Very nice image Mike, I love it as presented, great work !!!

Mike, this is a fine cloud/fog scene with it’s nicely swirling clouds, tree fading into the crepuscular rays and touch of meadow at the bottom. Nicely moody and inviting.

Beautiful image Michael, love the rays coming through the trees and the moody feel. I don’t feel the foreground hill is adding much to the image and the horizontal line it creates makes your eye stop there, so I would crop it out, I then cropped some of the sky to make it feel more balanced. For my personal taste it is also a bit too gray so I added some blacks and dodged the light tones in the trees to bring them out along with the rays, but it’s all personal preference on how contrast-y you want it. Fantastic work!

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I like this interpretation too David. I like the higher contrast, and eliminating the strip of field at the bottom gives this image a more mysterious feeling. I also love how you dodged that little tree in the center, that adds a lot to this rework.

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As a fan, Michael, I got a kick out of the Monty Python reference. The grounds actually do remind me of an opening scene in the film, something about “how to not be seen” as I recall. Anyhow, the misty atmosphere and beams of light striking down through the forest appeals to me very much. Although the stormy clouds are essentially what sets the stage, I believe I would crop down about 40%, or at least enough to eliminate the darker patch of the sky. The trees and bits of light are for me the best part.

Michael, excellent idea with the B&W thought on this particular scene. Seems to fit the light and overall view very well…:+1:
I could easily buy in on David’s version too. Especially in the contrast area…:thinking:

I like the crop up from bottom and darker sky in David’s version, but I also like the curling cloud in the original. You have lots of variations to play with to find what works best for you. I’m thinking you might have two images here: the first with darker sky and less fg and a more heavily cropped version with just trees and fog, maybe square?

Great eye for seeing this in the changing conditions.

ML

WOW. I like @David_Kingham’s crop which showcases the ray really well. Very well seen, Mike.

Mike,
I like David’s higher contrast version, but my vote is to keep that curl at the top of the fog as I think it is integral to the scene; at least to me.

Michael,

Wonderful! The atmospherics are fabulous and I do like how the b&w helps emphasize that fog and streaking light through the trees.

I’m pretty much liking the lower contrast original. I do agree that excluding the grasses/field works beautifully. I think including them they anchor the scene and are a solid element, but also makes it a little more conventional and less abstract/graphic - if that makes sense. With that I really like David’s edits, but personally would keep the swirling fog up top.

Ok, maybe I missed something. What are all the white specs? I don’t think they’ve been mentioned and I’m curious what they are. At first I thought stars in the open sky, but then they’re scattered throughout? Fireflys? birds?. Anyway, I think I missed something.

Great choice with the b&w btw.

Lon

Thanks, @Lon_Overacker, @David_Kingham, @Paul_Breitkreuz, @Mark_Seaver, @Bill_Leggett, @Adhika_Lie, @Ed_Lowe, @Ed_McGuirk, @Marylynne_Diggs. Ed Lowe, I told you I wasn’t a very good photographer and had to really work a scene to come away with any images. I would never make a living as a large format shooter. Ed Mcguirk, next purchase will be a teleconverter. I was shooting DX mode, plus cropped some more so not many megapixels left.
Thanks David and Marylynne for reworking the scene. I love the added contrast and bottom crop, but I think I prefer leaving the curling fog.
Lon, you’re not missing anything. I assume the bright spots are backlit water drops. I didn’t notice them in field. They really showed up upon enlargement, and David’s reworking further accentuated them.
:vulcan_salute:

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Especially for distant scenes with fog, I notice no degradation in image quality with a teleconverter. I thought about replacing my 70-200mm lens with a 100-400mm, but I shoot so little beyond 200mm, and in those limited cases where I do, a converter generally works fine. And I don’t mind passing on carrying the extra weight of the 100-400mm.

This is great. I was thinking along the lines of cropping the bottom before I read any comments. Having gotten all the way through the thread, I am in with David’s cropped version. It really jumps off the screen for me. How ever you dice it, nice stuff.