Libby Flats

[David_Starr]

Welcome to Libby Flats!

Libby Flats is only accessible in the Summer months and I have visited it dozens of times over the years. I have never had the privilege of visiting when there wasn’t a hard cold wind blowing. The wind is the reason the trees only have branches on one side and the flowers grow very close to the ground.

For me, Libby Flats a magical place that I enjoy visiting, however brief each visit is. It isn’t a place where you sit and take in the view. On this particular day, I was pelted by BB size ice balls just a few minutes after taking this photo.

It is worth noting that the snow capped mountains seen in the distance is Rocky Mountain National Park. This photo was taken at the end of June.

I converted this to B&W because I believe that overall, the contrast makes a more interesting photo. What I don’t like about the B&W is that the small purplish flowers in the BL don’t contrast well.

Specific Feedback Requested

I am interest in all of you comments. However, I’m hoping you can provide me with tips on how to get the purplish flowers in the BL to be stand out more.

Should I crop to get rid of the blue sky at top?

Technical Details

Canon 5D IV | EF17-40 @ 39mm | f11 | 1/320 | ISO 100
Processed using Canon ACR, Photoshop, Lumenzia
Dodge & Burn, Light Vignette, Elliptical Tool/Curves/Gaussian Blur to lighten RMNP

[David_Thompson]

David

This b/w conversion looks good. I’m not entirely sure what to do with the flowers. If this were color, I definitely could help you with that. With the b/w conversion the tones are blending all together so separation gets more challenging. I would say if anything you could maybe dodge the flowers and make them slightly brighter to make them stand out.
I do agree with your statement of cropping the top part of the sky out. That would make the sky more consistent. I also feel that the scene is leaning backwards. I would try playing with the lens correction and adjusting the vertical perspective and bring the scene back towards the viewer. I did a quick sample crop which I think helps the scene out.

DT

[David_Starr]

Hi David,
Thank you for your input. I edited my photo using your suggestions and I feel is much improved. The lens correction and vertical adjustment made a big difference.

In addition, I darkened the greens, yellows and reds just a tad using the B&W sliders. Along with the dodging, the flowers are standing out better now.

I’m also going to give this photo another shot at editing in color. I have learned a few tricks since I first edited it and I may know now how to make the adjustments to make it a decent photo. The purplish flowers really pop in color.