I visited the Death Valley NP this past weekend and was able to meet @David_Kingham in person. Sunrise on Monday was a bummer but I stayed a bit longer to just enjoy the moment before I had to leave and go back to LA. Some minutes later, there was a break in the cloud and a sliver of light kissed the Panamint Range in what I thought was quite a dramatic way.
This is a single shot but cropped by about 50% because I was not sure if the light would stay if I put on the 1.4x TC. I hope I can convey that “Ahhh” moment when the sun kissed the mountain, but all feedbacks are most welcomed.
This is excellent, Adhika. I’d say this is a pretty good recovery from “bummer light”. Framing and processing look good to me with just the right amount of details in a shadows. Only thought would be to experiment with cooling the shadows down a bit to provide more tonal contrast.
Adhika,
This is quite subtle and I really enjoy these types of scenes where you capture the beams of light amongst the shadows. No nits from me, I like this as presented.
Glad you got to meet @David_Kingham, he is much shorter in person right??? (Hahahaha)
“John Loengard, the picture editor at Life, always used to tell me, ”If you want something to look interesting, don’t light all of it.”
― Joe McNally
I love these sorts of images where a streak of light illuminates just part of the landscape. On a recent trip to Banff/Jasper/Yoho here in Canada some of my favourite pictures from the trip are those where just part of the mountains are lit through a small gap in the clouds.
I have no negative comments to give, the range of tones from highlights to shadows are handled very well and the image is compelling.
You have a great “light sandwich” shot here Adhika. I like it that you kept the contrast relatively restrained in the image, it allows the subtle colors and textures to stand out better. I also like the white balance used here, the shadows are not too cool, nor too warm, I think you nailed the color in this image.
I very much like the image as presented. But I think you have some leeway here for some other interesting crops/alternate images. I can see a panoramic centered around the spotlit area, for example.
I also sent you a PM regarding my tentative plans for a DV visit later this year.
Moody and mysterious; I am really liking this, Adhika. I like your WB here along with the light sandwiched between the two layers of shadow. Way to hang in there and not pack it in to early. I could also see this with a little off the top for more of a pano. Not necessarily better, just another option.
I have never heard this before, Michael and it’s quite powerful. Thank you for sharing this.
Yes! I played a bit with the crop and the panorama was one thing that I considered or at least a 3:2 crop. And I think this is one of the best features of Death Valley in general, so many images can be made from just one place.
What made me go with this crop is that I could create some sort of juxtaposition between the unlit “peak” and the lit “peak”, but that is not the main point of the image.
This is an interesting idea, Dave. I played a little bit with it: added a cooling photo filter masked to a Dark luminosity selection and I posted the alternate version above. I don’t have any strong preference towards either.
I wonder what the others feel about this alternate version.
Fantastic capture, Adhika. You definitely conveyed that “ahhh” moment in my books. The wonderful textures and layers are a perfect accompaniment to that great light. I personally like the original version with a touch more contrast. Nicely seen!
