Owens River, Early Spring + Options

Image Critiques Landscape Critiques
1

MY ORIGINAL:

EastSide_031824_2989 copy.jpg
EastSide_031824_2989 copy.jpg1386×2080 674 KB

EDIT PER PAUL B’S SUGGESTION (set black/white/gray points, but not on trees):

EastSide_031824_2989_setpoints
EastSide_031824_2989_setpoints1386×2080 690 KB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

We recently made a trip to the southern reaches of California. On the way, we spend a couple of days on the East Side (of the Sierra Nevada). This stretch of the Owens River near Lone Pine is in a restoration area (the Lower Owens River Project), and there were lovely wetlands and backwaters everywhere. From the project page:

The Lower Owens River Project (LORP) is the largest river restoration of its kind ever undertaken in the United States. This dynamic adaptive management project, initiated in December 2006, encompasses re-watering a 62-mile-long stretch of river and adjacent floodplain left essentially dry after the river was diverted into the Los Angeles aqueduct in 1913.

Specific Feedback

Any comments welcome. I thought about going b&w, but the blue and gold colors were just so beautiful I couldn’t do it.

Technical Details

Screen Shot 2024-04-04 at 10.51.09 AM

1 Like
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@Bonnie_Lampley
I took a few minutes and made a couple changes to your image along the Owen’s River area here.
All I did was set the Black-White-Neutral points and once they were set I added some basic contrast. I marked the points and the numbers I adjusted them to.
Nothing dramatic I just had some time on my hands.

EastSide_031824_2989 copy
EastSide_031824_2989 copy1386×2080 709 KB

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That’s something I never think to do, Paul. I went back and did it to my PS file and I like what it does to the sky & water, but it made the trees too orange and contrasty for my taste. I brushed it off the trees, though, and I do like that version. Thanks!

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@Bonnie_Lampley very glad to hear you were able to make some updates that worked out to your liking. In the end, it’s always our own personal preferences that works best for each of us… :sunglasses:

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Good call on setting the gray and white points Paul. It livened the image. Its a great reflection Bonnie, and good eye for catching that.

2 Likes