Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Here’s one from NPN that I had posted, reworked it for the new size parameters. I found this location along the trail that appealed to me because of the various colors of the slopes. This is a 3x2 crop from sides of the 4/3rds original. I made some slight changes in shadow/highlight, added some contrast and a bit of saturation.

Just wanting your input on the overall colors and comp, and of course any other comments you might have are always welcome.

E-5 Zuiko 14-54 at 45mm on tripod, ISO100 1/125 f5.6 +1/3EV

Bill: I like parts of this composition as it is part abstract and part documentary. The Canyon is a marvelous sight.

For me the image does not have enough punch / contrast to push it over the top. It is very monochromatic with a lot of potential to add depth and texture. I don’t know the time of day you captured this, and understand that dramatic light in the canyon is tough to come by, which to me means one way is to create some of the drama in post processing. I think this has a lot more potential that it currently portrays.

Bill,

I like this a lot - think it’s an excellent semi-abstract; in other words, more of an intimate nature portrait than a grand landscape.

I think given the soft diffused light, that the colors, saturation, (color temp) look spot on to me. Any more boost in color/sat would look unnatural. I think the contrast is also right on, again, given the diffused lighting. I wouldn’t change anything regarding processing. The detail is excellent in the large view.

For, I do think you’ve tried to include too much in one image. I see an excellent square image of the bottom half. I think there’s also a potential 3/5 crop of the top portion - although some of the tall trees are problematic. Overall I think you did a great job of isolating this and pulling out from the larger view.

Lon

Thanks for the comments. To Keith and Lon, I reviewed the files, and they were all shot around 12:30 PM, and conditions were cloudy with occasional traces of filtered sun peeking through in spots. Lon, I can look at some crop options, but first I’ll go through several others which are both landscape and vertical, as during the shoot the sun was varying, so maybe I’ll find another comp. Also I tend to agree that it really might not be considered “grand landscape”, as it was a small portion of the canyon, perhaps somewhere it between, and I can try some crops as options. Thanks for the input.

Bill, i’m with Lon, I the colors, saturation and contrast are appropriate for what you see at this location on an overcast day. If you try to push them in post it may not work well. I like the choice of a vertical orientation. I like the abstract created by the patterns in this scene, but I think the formation in the lower right corner creates some issues. It is very dominant in this comp, but IMO it doesn’t have interesting colors, shapes, textures. So I think it it competes with the interesting stuff in the upper 2/3’s of the image. I thinks Lon’s cropping suggestions reduce the distraction effect of this fomration. A crop away from the bottom, just below the big group of pines would minimize the distraction as well.