Sunset photographed from within a cave on Lake Superior, Michigan
Bring out all those nits please!
This is a HDR 3 images - a lot of purple, green edges especially in the cave opening - took me a LOT of time to correct - is PS way of building contrast ?
Is this a composite: No
Most likely this green / purple fringing is chromatic aberration. Here are some tips on how to remove this in LR. This needs to be corrected in the raw files.
I like the composition, it’s very powerful and well balanced. The repeating openings and arches create an interesting look.
This is about as tough a dynamic range situation that one could encounter, short of having the sun in the frame too. This does not look overly HDR-ish to me, you kept the deep shadows fairly dark, which maintains contrast (some HDR’s have too little contrast which looks un-natural). The only place I would wish for more contrast is in the rock along the top edge, maybe try running some localized clarity or perhaps even dehaze there to restore some contrast without losing too much shadow detail.
The most significant technical issue for me is that the near foreground in the two lower corners looks soft when viewed large. Assuming that you shot this from a tripod, I’d say that you either needed a higher aperture for more depth of field to get everything sharp, or that you may have mistakenly focused too deep into the scene.
Holy Cow!! I LOVE this – a wonderfully unusual and dramatic subject with dramatic color! I don’t see any indication of the HDR being overdone. I’m curious if you used the Merge to HDR feature in LR? I’ve found it to give the most realistic result, and love that it returns a raw file! I haven’t seen the sort of artifacts with it that I think you are describing.
Hi Karl,
There’s a lot to like in this image. The great shape of the cave and the interesting textures. That combined with warm light makes for a pleasing image.
This is probably in the personal taste category but for me the cyan/blue sky which is quiet saturated takes more of my viewing attention then I think it deserves. I’d consider enhancing the warm glowing light more while also taming the blue sky a bit.
Hi Diane
The HDR file has that “ghosting” - may be the files didnt get aligned properly - my mistake shooting ?
The HDR file certainly gives one a lot of data to play with. I combine one of the 3 files with an HDR file sometimes
Thanks Nathan - i agree that the blue can be toned down some
Thanks @Ed_McGuirk
I was trying to keep that top left area a bit darker as it was darker and also to give it more depth. That said, I did add in some clarity in this area and has improved
Fortunately I was able to find a couple of files with better DOF in the L and R lower areas - thanks for pointing out that laziness in me
I have used that Defringing option in the past - especially with stars - one has to be careful not to lose star color. It didnt work much in this original HDR file. I wonder if the files didnt align exactly for whatever reason - my fault most likely
I wonder if there is an HDR software that can correct misalignment?
Hi @Karl_Zuzarte, Super cool image. You could try some locatized color correction with simple masks and a color balance layer.
I have a composition critique that you might like. I wouldn’t change a thing with the framing and camera position except to push in a little bit and get those reflections pools as a major foreground element! It would be super cool so see that little cave opening in one of the reflections!
I liked everyone’s comments and took each into account as I made my edit. Mostly, I just toned down the blue in the sky a bit, and I pushed up the light in all three entryways, concentrating more on the middle and far left entries giving more of an emphasis on brightening up the floor and adding some flare to the inside walls. There were two lens flares on the inside left above the hole and I cloned them out. I did add some light to the inside rim of the main entry and to the right wall side just as you enter with an orange photo filter on a selection. This also helped to tone down the greens in the ceiling.
Thanks everybody for your interesting observations and suggestions - I will be trying all out to see the outcomes!
