So here is an image that I took last fall up on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I have been waiting to process it because I knew it would involve blending exposures to get the full dynamic range. My processing skills have improved over the last year so I gave it a go yesterday.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
I would really like your feedback on the processing. I’m still a novice when it comes to blending exposures. This is a blend of three exposures in Photoshop. I opened the three exposures as Smart Objects in Photoshop and adjusted the base exposure so that it had all of the detail in the mountains and then I blended the two sky images by adjusting the shadows and highlights to taste using the smart objects tool and then I used TK’s Luminosity Masks for the blending. I’m striving for a natural looking result.
I’m also interested to know your thoughts on the foreground ridge and whether it is too dark.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
All comments and critiques about the composition are welcome. I did experiment with a panoramic crop, but I didn’t really care for how it cutoff the ridge on the second from the bottom.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Three image exposure blend
82mm
f/8 @ various shutter speeds
ISO 100
Processing Info:
In addition to blending the exposures I also used TK’s luminosity masks to further dial in the contrast I also used the Dehaze action in the TK V7 panel at low opacity.
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You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
Brian - this is a beautiful scene and the layers are just great. The luminance of the distant hills are particularly pleasing and inviting to my eye. The elevated perspective is great and given the conifers - presumably black balsam/frasier fir, this gives a sense of elevation.
What strikes me as a bit curious is that the foreground is in low contrast whereas the background has more contrast. This doesn’t allow for the typical degree of “atmospheric haze” that causes decreased contrast with more distant objects. If this sun was still up when the foreground was shot, I would expect more light on the trees. Maybe I’m not interpreting the scene correctly, but I’d be curious of others thoughts in this regard.
My only other comment is on the saturation of the yellow in the sky. While creating a nice contrast with the subtle blue tones, I wonder if it would look a bit more balanced with less yellow saturation.
Thanks for sharing! Really a pleasing image to view!
This is beautiful and a fantastic layered image! And to one of Jim’s points, I don’t think you even need that bottom ridge of trees (He was commenting on the contrast there…) I think the mountain/valley layers in the upper half are killer! Great contrast up there. Distinct ridge lines and just the right amount of smokey haze in the valleys between. I do think the sky works quite well as presented.
As far as processing feedback goes - I think the best thing one can say is that this doesn’t look “processed” or even blended for that matter. So, if your processing results in an image that looks like it came from a single frame - then you’ve done a great job. At least in my mind.
Brian, this very nicely done. The blend looks seamless, there are no halos, and the gradients of luminosity through the receding ridge-lines looks very smooth and natural. And I think you nailed the colors here, the blues in the ridges look exactly how a remember scenes for the Smokies (or Blue Ridge Parkway in this case). In terms of composition, I like this image with the trees included (to create some depth), but I also think Lon’s suggestion of just showing the ridge-lines would be interesting as well, you have the luxury of some choices here.
This works great as presented, but I agree with @Jim_McGovern about wanting to see things sharper close, and softer further away (which is what you get with hazy scenes like this in real life). Regarding the yellow saturation in the sky, it’s certainly a matter of personal taste, and does not look overdone as presented. But if you subscribe to Jim’s suggestion on haziness, then it it might be better to de-saturate it a little.
I do think the very brightest highlight in the sky is getting hot, and could see taming that down a bit (a Lights 4 selection on a curves adjustment layer set to multiply blend mode should do the trick). I think this image might also be a candidate for adding a subtle Orton Effect at low opacity, to enhance the glow/mist in the ridge-lines, perhaps applying it only to the lighter tones.
Beautiful receding ridge line and sky. I agree with @Lon_Overacker about cropping out the front ridge with the trees. Doing a quick scroll crop, I like that presentation. Otherwise, looks good to me.
Overall this is beautiful, Brian. Never having blended in this way I cannot really make a comment about the processing but I would say that the sky and further hills, with their layers of different tones, look almost like a watercolour - a very lovely effect. To my eyes the immediate fg is a little dark.
I like the image as presented, because like you, I thought cropping off the bottom, cut into the ridgelines too much. I like the clarity of the mountains instead of looking softer as others suggested.
The tonal separation you managed to capture between all those ridges is impressive. Every ridge is clearly distinguished. The color balance between sky and land works so well. Fantastic image.
