This was taken during a wild windy snowstorm on the rim of the Grand Canyon. The snow was blowing in waves creating these dramatic scenes. This beam of light was caught just before the light was lost. I am not sure if the image conveys it, but the challenging conditions in the wind and snow produced quite a memorable evening!
What technical feedback would you like if any?
I am most interested in feedback on the editing but as always would like any comments.
Sounds like you had a blast, Alan. Bad weather = best photography
While this edit has the middle ground of contrast covered, my preference would be for greater contrast between the brightest and darkest extremes within the frame to dramatize the scene. I encourage you to explore more drama to express the conditions better.
Looking forward to where you take this.
Beautiful light and conditions out in the canyon. I find the snow covered bluff more of a distraction to the grand scene in the distance than a compliment. I would crop out the bluff (crop in from the left, leaving the bottom right part of the bluff, then content aware clone that bluff out) and see how it works. (Happy to post my version if you wish. )That sure is some stellar light!!
The light and the mood in the distant canyon. These kind of images show the GC at it’s best in my opinion, where the border between sky and land is not abrupt.
I agree with harley about the distraction but not about the crop. Hopefully you had moved to the right a bit and took this without the midground.
Alan, another really sweet GC Winter image. This one is much more dramatic than your recent post, it helps when you have a nice sky, clouds and fog to work with. This ties directly into the comment from @Igor_Doncov about the GC looking best when there is not an abrupt border between land and sky. With these clouds and drama in the sky you could afford to have breathing room at the top.
I am going back and forth about the @Harley_Goldman comment on the left bluff (distraction/crop). I like how it serves as entry point in the scene, and I think it creates a sense of depth. And without that striping of snow on the top part of the bluff, you wouldn’t necessarily immediately say “Grand Canyon Winter” What I find distracting about it is how much bright snow there is, especially the patch in the extreme LLC. I also agree with @Matt_Lancaster about wanting to see more local contrast in the brightest and darkest extremes of parts of the image.
So I took a stab at re-working this. I did a semi-pano crop to eliminate the very brightest snow patch in the LLC, while retaining all of the sky. I did a TK Midtones1 selection to a curves layer set to Soft Light Blending Mode to add some “global” midtones contrast, adding a little overall pop. I then did some dodging and burning at 10% opacity thru TK L2 and Dk2 selections to accentuate areas. The darks burns were primarily done in the darker sections of the clouds, and the deepest shadow sections of the canyon. i dodged the bluff a little, but primarily dodged in the lighter areas below the spotlit formation. Small touches like this D&B can make a big difference. I did this D&B pretty quickly for illustrative purposes, and it may have gone a bit too far in adding contrast, if I were doing this on my own image, i would have taken more time and gone for a more subtle effect.
I like this image a lot. The “spot light” effect is wonderful. I agree with the original needing a bit more contrast in the mid-tones. I would not make the left out cropping disappear. The leading lines from the out cropping ridge through the left to right lines in the center of the image bring my eye right to the nicely lit subject.
Thanks Matt for your comments. I was reluctant to push it too far but I agree it will help emphasize the drama. I am going to work on your suggestions.
Thanks for your thoughts and please feel free to post your version. I am curious to see the results. I did have it cropped more from the left but I liked the cloud detail in the ULC. I also felt the bluff added a sense of depth to the scene. I wish I could have moved right but the next step was down. I did take a close in shot but I do not think is nearly as dramatic.
Good to hear, Alan. I also agree with @Igor_Doncov, @Ed_McGuirk, and @Ed_Cordes about retaining the foreground outcropping for scale, context, and composition. I also like @Ed_McGuirk’s crop. I wondered how it would look with less sky.
As I look again at the image edit from Ed, I see red ghosts in the lit cloud above the lit landform that I don’t see in your original quite so clearly, but I can see something in your original. Could be noise or an effect of his quick processing. I wonder if you see it and can mitigate for it.
Thanks @Igor_Doncov for your feedback but moving right was not an option. I am looking at the others but the one with no mid ground may be too tight.
@Ed_McGuirk thanks for your comments and the rework you posted. I did want snow on the bluff included to emphasize the winter conditions. I do like minor crop and the added dodging and burning effects. I posted hoping for this kind of feedback, I tend to error on the side of less is better in post but this scene was very dramatic in person. Thanks for you help!
@Ed_Cordes thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts. It seems the majority likes some portion the out cropping or bluff on the left.
@Matt_Lancaster I do see the red ghost more in Ed’s repost but that is probably because of the his quick rework. I do see a very slight tint in the original but I do not think it’s noise. Thank you again for your feedback.
Alan, there is definitely something there in the original, @Matt_Lancaster has sharp eyes. When I added contrast in the sky with my rework, it makes odd stuff like this more noticeable. I’m not sure what it is, but it would be easy to remove with content aware fill.
Very nice light on a grand scene. Ed’s rendition is a bit more to my taste, but I think I often push contrast and saturation a bit too far. But this is a scene that can handle a lot of drama. I like the foreground bluff. It fits very nicely with the weather conditions. My only thought is to pull some blue out of the snow. That doesn’t feel quite right given the absence of a blue sky.
Thanks for your thoughts Tony. I do prefer Ed’s version as well and agree with your suggestion to pull some of the blue out of the snow. Not sure why I missed it, fairly obvious now. Posting on NPN is really great for many reasons and this is a good example.
What spectacular conditions and a what a fantastic capture there at the canyon. I think yours as presented is excellent; the tweaks by Ed take things up just a notch. I think the juxtaposition between the snow-covered rock in the foreground and the light/drama in the background give the image depth you’ve included enough, and not too much of that formation in the foreground.
Harley’s comp works too, but it’s more of an alternate view and a changed comp; not so much a better one compared to the original.
Harley, thanks so much for putting the time and effort into the rework. It’s a very nice alternate take on the scene and I do like it. For me it’s a bit apple and orange type thing. This was my first time to shoot at the Canyon and it was quite a learning experience. I was so fortunate to have awesome conditions.
Lon,
It’s always nice to get your feedback. I agree with your take on both Ed’s and Harley’s versions. If I get a chance to go back to the GC, I will go in the winter. The crowds are much lighter and I also love the snow, colorful rocks and shadows that can be present at that time. It is quite a contrast from the conditions we have here in Michigan during the winter. Coincidentally, my visit there last year was during the government shut down, fortunately they kept the gates open.
