Hi All,
Very much appreciate your comments on my last post. This is a different vantage point from the same evening.
In post, I blended two images and then worked on the tones/contrast with luminosity masks. ALl C&C welcome.
Techs:
D3s
16-35 mm f/4 @ 29mm
ISO 200
f/14
1/30
@feelingruby
Hi Lyle,
A beautiful image. A great landscape in great light. The balance in brightness of the foreground and the sky and sun rays is probably a matter of taste, but I like your processing and choices a lot.
The image feels tilted to me. You probably leveled your camera, but the line of the mountains in the distance suggests a tilt and I would be tempted to rotate the image a bit CCW.
Lyle, what tremendous conditions in the marvel of the Grand Canyon! There is so much to like here - the beautifully rendered light rays, the silhouetted tree, the dynamic sky all work together to create a truly impactful image. Nicely done!
I agree with Han about the horizon, and my only other critique is that it feels a bit dark and moody for the sun still being relatively high and peeking out from under the clouds. I think the dense clouds above somewhat detract from the spectacle of the sun on the landscape, which to me is the star of the show here.
I did a quick reinterpretation - implementing the rotation, a panoramic crop to reduce the dark sky and focus attention on those magical light rays, some selective dodging in the middle ground to bring a bit more life there, and slightly brightening and warming the image overall. I think this just slightly better emphasizes what you had already captured. Thoughts?
Thanks for taking the time. I like that a lot. In fact, it is very close to how I processed it back in the day and how I remember the scene. Of course, back then, I ran the photo through some HDR software and marveled at how good it looked! I think I was just a little gun shy about bringing this re-edit so close to that version.
Good to hear it, though ‘back in the day’ HDR sounds kind of scary! 
My edit was like 2-3 minutes, you could definitely work the scene better with a more thorough approach. I think the rotation and cropping helped it the most, your exposure blend was good and I just slightly opened up the shadows further. You could go in endless directions with the tones and color based on personal taste and expression. You’ve got a wonderful base for exploration here, and I’m curious if others will take a crack at it…
You really caught some great conditions with these images Lyle! The haze makes that light spilling through the ridges so attractive. I think Sean’s changes are spot on, and the direction I would vote for the image. As with your prior post, I think there is a great BW lurking in there too.
