Bella Coola

Sunrise in Bella Coola BC. All critiques, opinions and suggestions are very much appreciated :beers:

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

Focus stack

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
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This is a gorgeous location! I really like what you’ve done with the overall composition. I feel like the whole image would benefit from a boost to Vibrance and perhaps an overall warming in WB. I think that would make the dramatic light on the distant mountains pop a bit more and give more of a golden hour vibe.

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Blake, this is such a gorgeous composition. I like how blue is echoed in the flowers, the glacial lake, and the sky. The composition works really well with me. I am expecting more of a lush green given the Spring feeling that the flower exudes. I think a boost in the colors would look pretty nice.

Epic scene! The darker top and bottom sections of the image really draw your eye in. I also enjoy how each third of the image is interesting: Sky, Mountain/Pool, and Flowers. I agree on pushing the Vibrance a bit, particularly in the Greens/Aqua, to help the foliage and lake pop. Really great job overall, love it!

Hey Blake!
I keep coming back to this shot! The haze has me feeling like it’s a dream. I can only imagine how it must have looked and felt to be in front of that scene in person! Lucky guy and nice skills on the shot. I can only hope to capture something like this. I am with the rest, a nice punch of juicy color would merely add to the glory you have here. Just gorgeous! Thanks for sharing it. My eyes are happy. :slight_smile:

Love the composition and lighting here. While the desaturated look is very in vogue currently I don’t think it works here. The greens in particular look very unnatural.

Most excellent composition, Blake ! Classic ` layering ’ of fg, bg and mid -distance, with interest fpr the eye in every part. I take the points made about vibrance and the greens, but I guess you have chosen a cooler, slightly muted colour range deliberately, and it works well for me.

Blake,

Wonderful alpine landscape; excellent near/far comp with all the major elements nicely balanced (flowers, lake/snowcapped peak and the complimentary sky.)

I would agree with the others; something about the haziness and color/saturation. On the one hand, as presented creates a mood and atmosphere which may be exactly what you’re after. Alternatively, I’m sure there is room in the RAW to change this either subtly or drastically. De-hazing might totally change the mood and not work; just not sure. Regardless, it’s a grand view and excellent mountain landscape.

Lon

The stack works really well here Blake as it gives the scene some wonderful depth. You also handled the whites beautifully and I like the blues throughout the scene. My only suggestion; just my personal preference; would be a little more saturation. Of course that is all subjective as everone’s tastes are different. Either way this is lovely.

@Dan_Hawk @Adhika_Lie @matt3 @kori @Kah-Kit_Yoong @Ian_Wolfenden @Lon_Overacker @Ed_Lowe Thanks guys for the feedback, I did a bit of a quick rework based on your suggestions and I definitely like it!

4 Likes

I like the repost. An amazingly beautiful scene. You hit a home run with this one. I would print it large and get it on the wall to enjoy it every day. Thanks for sharing.

Blake,

Changes are soft and subtle, but the image is much improved! thanks for taking the time to rework!

Lon

Blake - beautiful comp. Focus stack looks good and the near far relationship is pleasing. Really liking the image and the edits you made! I’d like to offer a couple of ideas for consideration that haven’t been brought up. When I opened the image up initially the section of the image (down hill) from the back of the wildflowers down to the lake kept grabbing my eye. Not much visual interest in there and I wondered if you had gotten a little lower what it might have produced. As an alternative here are a couple of suggestions to play with…

  1. Consider something closer to a 4x5 crop. To my eye the sky could be cropped just so there is enough breathing room at the top of the mountains. I don’t think the image looses anything with a pretty aggressive crop up there.

  2. Slight reduction in highlights in the mountain range might bring some detail back into the scene and provide a little more contrast up there. That glacial area looks so cool I’d like to see some detail there specifically.

  3. Given the suggestion to bring out some of the details of the glacier I think you could get away with adding some saturation to the glacial lake. Granted the lake is sitting in a shadow but some green/blue hues of glacial lake might be interesting.

  4. Experiment with a subtle vignette.

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Hey, the rework looks a lot better, more pop and liveliness. I think the greens need a bit more saturation and I’ve also gone for a touch more warmth.

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Thanks George, excellent Ideas, Ill give them a try.

Thanks Kah Kit very helpful as always!