Here’s a second version trying to incorporate the suggestions. When I took this image, it was slightly tilted; rotating and cropping is what led to the top of the image being a little too tight. I went back and puppet warped the image so I could keep the rotation without cropping it smaller. That was at the beginning of the workflow, which meant that the masks I had originally used no longer fit, so I rebuilt the processing. The changes are subtle, but hopefully address the recommendations enough to improve the image without taking it too far. Thanks again for all the suggestions @Harley_Goldman , @Ed_McGuirk, and @John_Moses . @Tony_Siciliano and @Eva_McDermott , hopefully I didn’t go so far as to ruin the original .
Great scene very well portrayed in B&W. This one has a nice Ansel look to it. I might add some contrast to the LRC area, the front snow hill, but minor. Looks really good.
This is excellent John, what epic conditions you had. This trip has proven to be a gold mine for you. I just love the way your composition arranges the trees and ridges here, it’s very well balanced. And the shadows from the trees are a nice small touch too. For me the lowest , less dense cluster of trees is very appealing , and I might suggest dodging the highlights slightly in that area to draw more attention to them. My other suggested tweak would be to add a slight bit more space at the top. I added 2% more canvas in Photoshop, and then did Content Aware Fill. I thought this slight bit of extra breathing room at the top was a subtle, but helpful addition. Great image John…
John, this is outstanding! The lines in the foreground snow add lots of interest there, the scattered trees look good, while the sun lighting the low hanging clouds and the partially obscured peaks fill the rest of the frame with equally interesting “stuff”.
John. What a wonderful image you have captured. I too am drawn to the snow pattern in the foreground that leads you to the incredibly dramatic mountains and clouds. I tried using a curves adjustment to increase the contrast in the snow pattern and decreased the highlights to bring more drama to the clouds. Beautiful.
@John_Moses , thank you. By decreased the highlights, do you mean adding or lowering contrast? Feel free to post the edits if so inclined! I hope to post an edited version, and the suggestions are much appreciated.
John your image is striking. When I was playing with it in PS I used a S shaped curves adjustment (to bring out increased contrast in the snow) with a lights 1 luminosity mask to protect the trees. I then tried using a lights 1 luminosity mask to very gently dodge the clouds and the snow pattern in the foreground. I also used a darks 1 luminosity mask and very gently burned the snow pattern. I’m not sure I improved on your original image but here is how it ended up.
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