This is a continuation of the concept I explored in this image. This is horizontally flipped so I welcome the idea of flipping it back. I am also taking a leaf from @Igor_Doncov’s book. This is cropped slightly more than I usually do, but there are still a decent amount of pixels left.
As usual, all feedbacks are very very appreciated. Thank you for your comments and critiques!
Nikon D500, 300mm, f/8, 1/125, ISO 125
Added contrast using TK Dehaze at 65%, burned the ULC, and dodged the top most shadow.
@adhikalie
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Intriguing image. At first glance of the thumb nail I thought it was an aerial shot. Now I see it a study of light and shade. It looks like Panamint valley area. I think the crop wars great. There’s just enough information to hold interest while keeping an abstract nature to the image.
I am finding this one looks a bit hazy and flat to my eye, which is not really working for me in this particular image. I pulled in the black point quite a bit and burned the ULC and like the look.
Your image is an intriguing portrait of a texture and shadow that is too easy to ignore as we drive past. Thanks for slowing us down.
I appreciate the low contrast of the original. With low contrast, I felt invited to look around and see the textures. I felt the desire to address the highest contrast areas the bright white border, and the upper center/right deep shadows.
Like Harley, I would also tone down the ULC to reduce its draw of the viewers eye; I had to desaturate after burning, to accomplish that.
Please don’t flip this one back, the downward left to right diagonal flow of the the ridges is great. My eye goes first to the brightest thing, the ULC, then for me the left to right diagonal lines sweep my eye from the brightness of the ULC to the shadows in the LRC. If you flipped the image horizontal, there are still strong left to right diagonals, but my eye goes first to the bright area (the URC in the flipped version). From there I have to look right to left to follow the diagonals. I’ll admit maybe not everyone’s brain has as strong a left to right bias as mine (I’m left handed FWIW.)
In terms of the debate on contrast (original post vs. Harley’s rework), I think I would shoot for something in-between the two. I downloaded the original post, and applied TK Actions De-haze (which is less harsh than Lightroom Dehaze) with the opacity set to 70%. This yielded something in-between.
Thanks, @Nathan_Klein, @Harley_Goldman, @Dick_Knudson, and @Ed_McGuirk!
Great inputs here. I like the added contrast and decided to play with the TK Dehaze. I ended up going slightly lower than what Ed used: 65% and I also burned the ULC just a tad and dodged the shadow along the top most ridgeline. I like it better than the original now.
@Nathan_Klein: This is actually not from Death Valley. If you are familiar with the area, this is actually an image from the Owens Valley shooting towards the Inyo mountains.
@Dick_Knudson: I have to admit that I am still getting used to the whole border thing. Credit goes to @Igor_Doncov to get me started. The idea is to separate the whole thing from NPN’s background. And, I agree that white is not the best color for this, but it seems to be the one I can use consistently.
@Ed_McGuirk: I agree about the flow, that’s pretty much the reason I flipped it, too. It seems to make more sense this way. Especially with the way the shadow hugs the base of the mountain, I think in this “orientation” my eyes flow better throughout the image. Thanks for confirming my hunch.
I sort of like @Dick_Knudson’s rework of this image, including his choice of tonality on the border. It has a sort of dreamy vagueness about it. High contrast really kills it for me.
