Here is another take from the fantastic sunrise that @Michael_Lowe, @Ed_McGuirk and I witnessed. After the warm color disappeared from the clouds we were greeted with some beautiful blue tones throughout the scene before us. It was a special morning!
What technical feedback would you like if any?
All C&C welcome
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
All C&C welcome
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Nikon D800, Nikon 80-200 @ 80 mm, f 16 @ 1/80 sec, ISO 400, cable release & tripod
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Wow, you guys were sure blessed with a phenomenal sunrise - the gift that kept on giving!
Such a gorgeous sky, hard to be critical or to want to change anything. But then again, I’m never short on suggestions…
Just as an alternate view in order to emphasize the lenticulars even more you might think of cropping out the field entirely and have the row of trees anchor the scene. Nothing wrong with including the field per se, but one less element to give back attention to the clouds. The only other small thing is that I’m undecided about the clear blue and cirrus(?) clouds above/behind the lenticulars. On the one hand they add a layer and actually some depth to the sky. On the flip side they kinda detract from the the beauty and elegance of the lenticular clouds and the glow within.
In the end, this is quite beautiful as captured, processed and presented. What a morning!
Wow, Looks like you guys got a really phenomenal morning up there! I agree with Lon’s take on maybe taking out the field and just letting the trees anchor the shot. The cut off lupines in the LRC to me are a bit distracting. As for as processing I think you nailed it on this one!
Awesome shot, Ed. Nice comp with the centered mountain peak. Processing looks spot on. Hate to nit pick such a great shot, but I’m going to so you can correct in further presentations, namely the horizon has a slight clockwise tilt. I’m for leaving the sky as is, to crop it off would take away some of the lenticularness of the clouds. Yeah, I just made that stupid word up.
What a sky! These lenticular clouds are spectacular, Ed. The sort of sky us landscapers dream about.
Processing looks good with the highlights well controlled. I also think that cropping the field improves the composition. IMO, the main attraction is sky. The line of trees and mountains provide an effective anchor. The addition of the field doesn’t add anything.
Ed, a really super post here with this one. I can truly say I’ve never seen so many of these layers of LC’s in one area before. The only ones I’ve ever encountered in the field were scattered and few of them…
The suggestion by @Lon_Overacker of cropping the field might be worth a try to see if you like it. Regardless, once you’ve got the original image looking this good you can play with a variety of things for additional looks…
Thanks so much for your thoughts @Lon_Overacker, @David_Nilsen, @Michael_Lowe, @Dave_Dillemuth, @Paul_Breitkreuz and @Nathan_Klein as they are always appreciated. Here is a repost with the field cropped off. I almost did that before posting and then just went with what I had to see if anyone would suggest a crop. This was the only time I have seen clouds like this so I consider myself fortunate to have witnessed and captured a few images from that morning. I just have to give another shout out and thank you to @Ed_McGuirk for this special morning.
Ed, as Lon said, that morning was the gift that just kept on giving. The lenticular cloud show after the pink color left was pretty nice in it’s own right. I like the cool processing you used here, it perfectly captures the mood of that morning once the color left. The exposure and contrast look dead on. I’m glad you you grabbed some telephoto extractions of the clouds in addition to just the wide view, there clouds were pretty amazing.
Lenticular clouds are not really that common in New England, the mountains here are not big enough, so we were very lucky to get this
While I agree that the image is essentially all about the clouds, I am going to offer a dissenting opinion, and say that I like having the thin strip of grass. In the rework, the trees feel cut off, I guess my subjective preference runs to seeing the base of the trees such as in the original post. IMO, the thin strip of grass in the original does not take away from the clouds.
Ed, the repost works well as another version. as @Ed_McGuirk says it can also seem a bit tight or chopped there too. Maybe leaving a sliver of the strip of grass might be the best in the end. I did find scrolling up and down it did also work well with that idea too…IMO…
Thanks @Ed_McGuirk, @Eva_McDermott, @Paul_Breitkreuz and @Harley_Goldman for taking the time to leave a thought on the repost. Here is another repost per Paul’s suggestion. I think I am leaning toward leaving some of the field as the other crop with no field
Ed, the original and the 2nd repost work best for me. I lean toward the 2nd repost as being best overall…
The other one looked like the trees were cutoff at the base. Even the sliver of grass at the base on the 2nd repost eliminates that thought IMO…
Ed, this is a great collection of lenticular clouds, with their fine mix of warm and cool tones. The tonal match between the sky and the land works well also. I think the bit of grass at the bottom adds a good sense of place, although you might crop half of it, since I’m finding the lupine cluster in the lrc a subtle distraction. Ahah, just got to the 2nd repost, which hits my spot nicely.
