The image was taken in Bryce Canyon area, Utah with Sony A7R3 camera and Sony FE 24-105mm lens, 63mm, ISO 100, 1/125sec at f/11. Post processing in LR, PS, and Luminar 4 and a texture was added at the end.
interest, composition, technical
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Wonderful photograph, Izzy. It is terrifically dynamic and you have captured the sweep of the land. I love the arched dark curve up in the clouds, which seems to mirror and accentuate the general up-sweep of the mountains below. I also love the colour. The dominant blue works beautifully with the greens and hint of yellow in the forest below. The black areas are sufficiently broken by the forest green so that they ground the image without weighing it down. And, of course, the light - the way it hits that low central peak and the various highlights throughout. Marvellous. I could definitely do without the texture. Personally, I think it detracts more than adds to a picture that stands very well on its own. But that’s a question of personal taste.
Hey @Izzy,
Such a gorgeous image, a beautiful scenery indeed.
I love the blue tones of the mountains and the natural textures of that same mountains. The added texture for me doesn’t work because the landscape as already so much texture on it self.
The lower green patch is as a great light and contrasts nicely with the blue tones, the only change I would make would be to crop on that shadowed area, by creating a separated green patch I think it creates a distraction.
Just a great image that makes me wanna go shoot the mountains right now.
Thanks for sharing,
Cheers
Thank you very much for a very thoughtful critique, Kerry.
Thank you very much for a very thoughtful critique, João.
Since I am from the northeast, this definitely does not look like what I think of when you say “Utah”. It’s all blues and greens instead of reds and oranges. I like that the image provides a non-traditional view of Utah’s red rock country.
My general comments on light, color and composition would mirror those from @Kerry_Gordon, so I won’t be too repetitive. The composition in particular is very well done. The added texture looks over-done to me. In real life, the more distant an object is, the more diffuse and softer it appears. I try to address that by not applying texture and sharpening to an image on a global basis (like it appears that you have here).
Rather I apply texture and sharpening on a local basis, restricting it to foregrounds, or other elements where it would look natural. I avoid applying it to skies and clouds, since I prefer a softer look in clouds. The mountains look hazy to me, another situation where I would avoid adding texture, since a softer look is more natural. The only place I would have added texture in this image is the foreground trees.
Ed, thank you for your thoughtful critique. I totally agree with you regarding the Utah typical colors. All my other Utah images do have those more common regional colors, this being an outlier. When I apply textures, I do so either locally or globally depending on the image. To my eyes, this image appeared better with a global texture but judging by the comments received here, my opinion also seems to be an outlier. I will have to go back to the raw file and reprocess again with the comments in mind.
