Another look at a sunrise in the Badlands. It was a little difficult putting this one together - both compositionally in the field because of the road on the far right and because the cloud deck was so weird and kind of blocked in the higher parts. It didn’t get any better, but I did my best. The valley and the hills in the back are so different and I really liked how the expanse just fell back. Oh and there are storm clouds coming in to the left - they weren’t too dramatic yet and mostly were over across the park road, but later the rain moved in.
Specific Feedback Requested
Which crop do you prefer? Too much saturation? I went back and forth with both and just can’t even see the photo anymore if you know what I mean. Call out any other stuff you think my be worth changing or fixing or whatever.
Technical Details
Tripod
Single exposure
Lr for RAW work - some exposure and the usual curves adjustment to smooth the tonalities. Some clarity, texture and a little bump in the blue saturation slider in the Calibration panel. Sky mask with clarity and dehaze. Some sharpening & nr, but I let Topaz Sharpen take care of most of that. Photoshop to work with color and luminosity masks to further shape the light through some dodge and burn layers. Also hit it with a Vibrance mask to pull up the least saturated pixels. Clarity added in most of the mid-tones. A Soft Pop action added as well. All of those layers are less than 100% opacity.
Hello Kristen, these badlands look like an amazing place to photograph. I prefer the Crop #2 with less sky since my eye focuses more on the rock formations. You have probably already leveled out the frame but to me it could use some correction to the right. There is just a touch of haloing on the left side on the horizon where the badlands meet the darker band of clouds. I see that clarity and dehaze was added to the sky. I would recommend dialing that back a bit so that there is a transition of textured foreground with a gradual “softening” to the sky in the background. This will help add depth to the image. Hope this helps!
Really cool view! The badlands are a wild place that more people should experience. In terms of your saturation question, I don’t think these are too saturated at all. They look about the point that I’d push mine to. For the crop, I think #2. In the first crop it appears that the landscape is almost fighting for more of the scene and I want to see more of it. I think splitting the scene with the horizon right in the middle is great! It gives both subjects a voice and they’re both really interesting too!
I think you did a very good job on the saturation, capturing the softness of the predawn light on the rugged landscape very nicely. When I first viewed it, I liked the second crop as I felt the sweep of the clouds toward the top pulled my eye up out of the frame, but now I’m undecided, as the sweep is so dramatic. The details in the landscape here are so small and evenly lighted that maybe the clouds deserve to be the main subject?
Thanks @Alfredo_Mora. @David_Johnston & @Diane_Miller - I appreciate your insights - I can’t decide on the crops, but I think they both work in different ways. I tried mitigating the halo effect and it’s subtle, but I think it works. The Badlands NP is a really amazing place. I’ll post a few more shots.
Hi Kris, I think I like the first crop best. It gives a feeling of open space and grandeur. I do see some haloing where the mountains meet the sky. Very common with clarity/dehaze and other adjustments.
@David_Wallace’s link to a fix for halos is awesome. I used that technique often in the past. These days, I watch for the halos while I’m in the raw file and dial back highlights/shadows/clarity to get rid of them. Then I use a more subtle approach using gradients and luminosity masks to get the look I need.
In any case, this is an incredible scene and well captured!
That’s where that anti-halo tutorial went to! Thanks @David_Wallace - I think you pointed me to this for another image, and I should have bookmarked it, but I forgot. That technique works really great! I think the 3rd rework for the small crop and the 2nd for the tall crop are the best.
Thanks @David_Bostock - the scenery is pretty amazing, but it can get a bit much in processing so thanks for the tough hang with this one.
