Morning Glow

[David_Haynes]

Original post

Suggested edits

Another image from my recent Utah trip to the badlands. This is overlooking an old exposed seabed from millions of years ago revealing rippling, craggy, weathered textures and features. I was standing on the edge of the shallow canyon wall, maybe 500 feet deep, with the wind blowing at least 20 miles per hour, and taking in the early morning sunrise when the wall of the canyon started to glow just a little bit. I hope you enjoy the arid beauty of the desert as much as I do.

Specific Feedback Requested

Any and all feedback is welcome.

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
Z7, 24-70mm lens, ISO 80, 2.5 sec @ f/16, 23 mm

[Harley_Goldman]

Ah, I know this spot well. Beautiful light in the fore to contrast with the background and a quite pleasing sky as well. I might even brighten and slightly warm the lit rock to further emphasize the effect. A fine take on this location.

[Ed_McGuirk]

A simply beautiful image David. Your use of chiaoscuro with the light and contrast here is outstanding. I love the dark chocolate color of the badlands in the mid-ground. The textures here aren’t bad either

My only suggested tweak would be a very gentle dodging of the highlights in the butte directly below the mountain. But be very sparing in this, you don’t want to pull too much attention away from the foreground formations.

[Mark_Muller]

David, what a beautiful and quiet scene. I can almost hear and feel the sun coming up. I love the gentle light on the canyon wall with everything else still I shadows. And that soft pastel sky.
I like the visual balance left to right, of the weighty canyon wall on the right, balanced by the bright sunrise sky on the upper left.
Maybe one day I’ll see this in person.

[David_Haynes]

@Harley_Goldman

Ah, I know this spot well. Beautiful light in the fore to contrast with the background and a quite pleasing sky as well. I might even brighten and slightly warm the lit rock to further emphasize the effect. A fine take on this location.

Thanks Harley. I love this area for all of it’s weirdness. I edited the image again with your suggestions but may have gone too far.

[David_Haynes]

@Ed_McGuirk

…d. Your use of chiaoscuro with the light and contrast here is outstanding. I love the dark chocolate color of the badlands in the mid-ground. The textures here aren’t bad either My only suggested tweak would be a very gentle dodging of the highlights in the butte directly below the mountain. But be very sparing in this, you don’t want to pull too much attention away from the foreground formations.

Thanks for your comments Ed. I did a re-edit on this one with your thoughts and Harley’s thoughts in mind. Too far?

[Harley_Goldman]

I like the modification. The changes look really good.

[David_Haynes]

@Mark_Muller

…David, what a beautiful and quiet scene. I can almost hear and feel the sun coming up. I love the gentle light on the canyon wall with everything else still I shadows. And that soft pastel sky.I like the visual balance left to right, of the weighty canyon wall on the right, balanced by the bright sunrise sky on the upper left.Maybe one day I’ll see this in person.

Thanks Mark. It’s a starkly beautiful location with a bewildering amount of abstract possibilities as wells as minimalist types of shots in addition to larger scenes. Hope you get there one day.

[joaoquintela (João Quintela)]

Wow,
i just love this one.
The second version really works for me.

[Vanessa_Hill]

@David_Haynes

Beautiful image and I love the composition, David! I really like what you did with the re-edit. Just enough to bring out the sun on the foreground cliff. Perfect capture!

[Ed_McGuirk]

@David_Haynes

Thanks for your comments Ed. I did a re-edit on this one with your thoughts and Harley’s thoughts in mind. Too far?

Exactly what I had in mind David, an already great image taken up another notch. It’s a beautiful image, I have enjoyed viewing it very much.

[Igor_Doncov]

You had some glorious light. The rework is an improvement.

[Han_Schutten]

A wonderful image. Wish I was there, that moment.
I must admit that (different than my highly estimated fellow NPN members) I prefer the original post. I can image brightening up the lit rock and it’s neighbor, but less than you did in the re-edit. You also brightened some other areas. I’d like to keep them as they were in the first post.