Mary’s Peak Sunrise

Last October I drove up to Mary’s Peak to catch the sunrise. This was one of my better photos actually after the sun was up, and I was on my way down the mountain, it was still fairly dark about 7:30 in the morning but light enough for my camera to do a pretty decent job. I liked the foreground grasses, the shapes of the pines on the hills, and all the fog that looked like an ocean.

Specific Feedback Requested

Is the composition ok? Do the colors look ok?Anything else

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
Nikon D3400, 70mm, ISO 200, f/5, 1/250, did slight adjustments with exposure, contrast, saturation, vibrance

apani.hill
3 Likes

Beautiful Vanessa. FG adds so much.

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Thanks for looking and your feedback! I’m glad you like it @Mario_Cornacchione !

This is such a wonderful view, Vanessa! The fog adds a wonderful air of mystery to the scene and it certainly does look like the ocean as it swirls around the mountains. This had to be a treat to view in person and looks like a place that would be worth visiting more than once. My only suggestion would be to bring out the yellow a little more in the sky with a little increase in the saturation. I hope you do not mind, but here is a rework with what I was thinking. Beautifully done.

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Hi @Ed_Lowe , thanks for looking and your input on this! I’m glad that you like it, and that’s interesting what you did with the sky! It kind of looks like part of the rays from the sun on the left, I’m thinking it is, because that’s about where it was! That’s pretty cool. So did you just choose yellow and then moved the saturation slider up a bit?

Hi Vanessa,
That’s it. I think I only upped it 10 points. I believe I also did a very slight levels adjustment by upping the highlights. This does look like a beautiful vantage point.

That is a beautiful view, Vanessa. I like this comp with the foreground grass and that fog is amazing.

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Thanks so much @Nick_Bristol for looking and your feedback! I’m glad you like it!

Yeah, it does have some nice views, but overall it’s not a very exciting mountain to hike, as you can also drive almost to the top! Not my idea of a wilderness journey! But it’s one of those things to do at least once for the view! And in the early morning at least no one is there yet! :grin:

A very nice view with a nice FG. I’m wondering about bringing out a little more detail in the darkest blues, but it might be tricky. The far left edge of the sky has a strange look, almost like faded film, where it didn’t fade as much. The right edge is similar but not as strong. I’m wondering if some sort of digital “filter” caused that.

Thanks @Diane_Miller . I didn’t use any filter but I’m sure the weird color you see is from the pollution made from the fires last year. We were socked in by smoke and gross smells well into December. That was actually why I ended up on top of Mary’s Peak! I so badly wanted a sunrise photo but even the hike near where I live wouldn’t have gotten me out of the fog you can see! When the fires had started end of August beginning of September the skies would go from brown to yellow to green depending on the inversion, and whatever else it was depending on… This year hasn’t been quite as bad…