I spent an afternoon shooting waterfalls with @Alan_Kreyger at Franconia Notch State, New Hampshire. Franconia Notch is a narrow valley between two north/south running mountains, and I knew that in late afternoon it would be shady enough to shoot waterfalls. My recent post of swirling leaves was taken that afternoon.
Our plan was to shoot waterfalls, and then leave to go to a sunset location if the weather cooperated. The clouds in the notch thickened, and we stayed quite late shooting waterfalls, and didn’t leave until about 15 minutes before sunset.
The instant we drove past the mountains at the north end of the notch, we saw a spectacular sunset in progress, complete with lenticular clouds. I knew that we did not have enough time to make it to Sugar Hill, our chosen sunset location (the same one Ed and Mike Lowe showed in recent posts). So in desperation, we immediately pulled into a nearby parking area, and enjoyed about 5 minutes of shooting before the light show ended.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Any critique or comments are welcome
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Canon 5D MKIV, Canon 70-200 f4 lens, 70mm, ISO 200
This is a blend of 3 exposure brackets for dynamic range. Blended using a combination of TK Luminosity masks, and manual blending.
Well, I have to say that this turned out to be an excellent Plan B, Ed. It looks like you guys had some gorgeous sunsets also. The sky with its combination of warm and cool tones is flat out gorgeous and I love those couple of lenticular clouds, particularly that one in the forefront. The fall colors look like they were still going strong and your processing is superb. No suggestions from me.
Ed, another great last minute call on your part to give this location a try! Your blending techniques did a beautiful job representing the spectacular sunset we experienced. This sunset proved to be a very good omen for the weekend ahead! Well done!
Chasing the light… seems to be a common theme with all of us…
What I find most interesting and spectacular with the sunset sky/clouds are the two distinct halves of color and cloud formations. On the left, all the lenticulars with the lavendars and pinks, then the sunset clouds orange/yellows on the right.
Not sure if you need all the foreground trees - but here we go on whether or not the autumn foliage is important, or if it’s all sky. for me it’s all sky… Just gorgeous colors. Can only imagine the view you had - just glad you’re able to share back.
This is a fairly straightforward composition. I like the look of the sky and I really appreciate how the foliage was handled to work so well with the sky (rather than emphasize the greens, for example). I guess what I’m trying to say is that this is so well color balanced. I also like the told layering of the tree tops. I’m slightly put off by the trees rising above the horizon line on the left.
Gorgeous, Ed. That’s one spectacular light show. Great job blending the exposures. Processing looks good but I think the mountain slope looks a bit flat and would benefit with an increase in mid-tone contrast. I could see slightly darkening this slope as well. This is a fine image and worthy of tinkering with.
