What changed: I cropped a bit more, adjusted the blue tones in the whole photo and added a mask to the sky to adjust the blues there too. Removed the vignette. Increased the texture a bit.
Added after receiving feedback from the community.
The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical
About This Image
Hi folks. This kinds of closeup is something I love, but don’t have much experience with. We were backpacking on Indian Ridge and I shot this closeup of Half Dome in the afternoon. I kinda like it, but I’d love your reaction and critique. Thanks!
Feedback Requested
I’m hoping to capture the raw edginess of the granite. I kinda like the processing but am also drawn towards a more simple BW image with less vignetting. What do you think?
Technical Details
Camera: OM-5MarkII
Lens: OM 75-300mm F4.8-6.7 II
Focal length: 270mm
Shutter speed: 1/800s
Aperture: f/7.1
ISO: 200
The bright sun and haziness feel conveys to me the bright sunny day, and the blue grey tint the result of the light and sky-blue being reflected off the rock. Your processing has made it very atmospheric with the climbers silhouetted on the ridge.
If you specifically want to bring out the edginess and sharpness you’ll need to play with the contrast and full Mono is certainly an option.
I’m not sure if the vignetting in the ULC is a lens artefact or added but I think it would be better removed. The sky doesn’t seem to have much detail in it so probably just lightening it a bit to make the blue band and darker corner less noticeable. I tried with playing in PS but didn’t get any improvements in detail . There are some PS experts here much more skilled than I.
Burning the rock face in places should add to the drama you seek and adding a little contrast to the ridge.
I have used a High pass filter opacity 30% blend mode soft light to make the ridge stand out a bit more.
I definitely get a sense of the edges here: edge of the earth, knife’s edge climb, the care necessary to stay on the desired edge of life v. death.
There is a kind of overexposed tonality here that actually distracted me from the climbers, and they are so much a part of the story. I think Huw has some great suggestions for how to handle that, and maybe just a slight crop up from the bottom (just a tiny one), along with increasing that edge contrast is enough to convey the point more strongly.
Here’s a possibility, but please, take it with a grain of salt. I’m not sure it’s better, but it helps we see the climbers. Any color shifts are incidental to saving in Windows photo app.
Great view and even better story with the climbers. The view is actually somewhat unique for the vast majority of park visitors - I know I’ve never been to where you can compose this.
I like where Huw was going with this. I think if the goal is to show the “raw edginess” of the granite, then this needs to be a little sharper/more contrast. And Huw has really enhanced that with the High Pass filter adjustment. I get there’s haze when shooting from a distance. I do appreciate as well that you’ve zoomed in and/or concentrated on the “slipery slope” of Half Dome and not included the whole monolith.
I do think b&w could work too, but I think the blue-gray tones work just as well here. I would agree with the ULC - it looks noisy or grainy - but shouldn’t be at iso 200. I think you could try and mitigate that corner a bit.
I’m really enjoying the vantage point and how you’ve composed and isolated this - creating a neat Yosemite story. Get some of the technical adjustments and this will be really cool.
Your revised crop definitely emphasizes the climbers more. It removed that tree, which simplifies the image, but there was something about that tree and the climbers both clinging to the edge that I liked. Good news: You have two great crops to enjoy!
ML
