I managed to arrive in the San Juans during peak color along the Million Dollar Highway. A storm dropped snow in the higher slopes during the night. I was out by sunrise and for the next three hours the low clouds and fog slowly started to break up. It felt magical to witness such changing beauty. This shot was taken about an hour after sunrise.
Any and all suggestions or comments welcome.
Lovely image, Tony. The high clouds make the scene. Excellent Fall Image.
Tony,
A terrific autumn landscape image and perhaps an even better “changing seasons” nature story. I really like the foggy conditions and overnight snow that are clearly sending the message that fall is almost over and winter is on it’s way. I actually like the diagonal split that helps tell that story.
The only real nit I have is the LLC corner. It appears that just that area has direct sun, and the rest is diffused light from the clearing storm. You might consider burning that down a little . I suppose you could crop, but I wouldn’t want to take away from any of the rest of the image by cropping. Personal preference, but you could burn down that corner and possible dodge/brighten the rest of the aspens a tad.
Oh, you might want to take care of all those dust bunnies! I can’t say I’ve seen such a cluser of them - the ones on the right made pretty noticeable by the light fog. There are a few others scattered around too.
Overall quite a pleasing autumn and changing seasons landscape image.
Lon
Terrific conditions you had here Tony. I love the drama and mood that this image imparts. The light dusting of snow the previous night in the upper elevations adds a nice contrast to the colors below and also suggests the seasons are rapidly changing. I agree with @Lon_Overacker about that LLC.
Around the edges is where I tend to get the most dust bunnies so it makes sense here.
Looks like you had a good trip!! I agree with @Lon_Overacker about burning down that LL corner – easy to do! And the dust bunnies – the ones I see at a quick glance are an easy clone/heal. I don’t remember your camera but I’ve had very good results cleaning with Visible Dust’s Sensor Clean and green swabs. Smear Away was great for oil spatters from the mirror on my 1DX2, but sometimes needed a followup with Sensor Clean. I’ve had bad results with VDust.
To see the dust before cleaning, check out the article on my web site – bottom right on the home page. I’ve seen many articles on sensor cleaning and I developed my method of seeing the spots out of frustration with all of them. It’s old and I just did a rewrite this evening (October 23).
This is flat out beautiful. The goal of a photo is to bring back a physical sense to tie the viewer to the scene and you’ve done that for me here. Love how the clouds curl on the right side of the frame. Lots of mystery in this photo
