High country black and white

I backpacked almost yearly in the Eastern Sierra from age 35 to 60 but didn’t really get back into photography until those years were winding down, so I have only a few photos from the back country, all taken with Canon high end point and shoot cameras. I just reworked this one of my favorites. Two questions: is it over sharpened (too crunchy), and is it too contrasty? Any other comments are welcome.

Hi Tony,

What a beautiful area!

The image doesn’t appear over sharpened to me viewing on an iPhone. I don’t find it too contrasty either.

My eye does get drawn to the bright cloud on the upper right third Nothing wrong with that but is thought I’d give that feedback in case you’re wanting to direct the eye elsewhere in the scene.

Tony,

First of all, welcome back! Hope you had a great trip.

This is fantastic! The cloud Gods were with you this day. I think the contrast is just about perfect given the conditions and light on the landscape (or lack of any direct sun that I can see). I like the line of trees anchoring the bottom of the scene; plenty of space and just a “rock solid” composition. :roll_eyes:

The sharpening looks great to me. I have no nits or suggestions. Well done!

Lon

Hi Tony - Those clouds definitely say “mountains in the summer.” They are a great complement to the more rugged landscape, with everything coming together nicely. I do not think the file looks oversharpened. If this were mine, I might actually go further with the contrast. The greys in the peaks blend in a little bit with the sky at the horizon. You could consider darkening the peaks or the sky at that point of convergence to help visually separate those two elements a bit more.

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There is much to be liked about this landscape. The mountains are impressive and the sky has an abundance of clouds. However, my first impression was how peculiar that sky is with the land. The sky appears to be from a stormy day while below there is no dappled light. The land is too bright for that sky. It looks like either a sunny day or a totally overcast day. So, to me, it just looks peculiar.

Thanks Lon. It is good to be home.

Thanks for the comments one and all. Igor, you noticed and brought up an interesting comment (the sky being too dark for the land). Many photographers, myself included, love those dark skies and often make the sky darker than the laws of physics would allow. This edit is almost fifteen years old. Since that time I always pause when the sky becomes as dark as the land, since the sky usually is not as dark as the land. That being said, sometimes I do it anyway. Who cares if it isn’t “realistic”. Look at Ansel Adam’s dark skies, they are certainly not realistic but are very usually very effective. Realistic or impactful? Agreed, all too often that dark sky is a cheap fix for an otherwise uninteresting photo. Always an interesting question in artistic landscape photography. Thanks for noticing and commenting. What do others think about this issue?

I also have an affinity for what I like to call Ansel-dark skies. For me this works, and in the high country of California in particular, the dark blue sky can be darker than the granite peaks.

I like this image a lot. It’s got lovely drama and feels really well processed to me. My eye doesn’t struggle with bright spots in the clouds, but it does get pulled down to the lowest dark tree along the middle of the bottom edge. If cloning that out is within your practice, I think that might keep the eye where you want it (on the peaks and the sky, but grounded by the line of trees).
ML

What’s not to like? Great comp, light and subject matter. I think the B&W processing is right on. Perfect contrast to my eye. No nits.
:vulcan_salute: