Here is another from my recent long trip to southern Utah. We spent many days just wandering around. We were blessed with many days of clouds and great fall color. In spite of days of haze, all and all it was a fabulous photo trip. This photo was taken close to sunset. It’s also very close to the Colorado River.
Specific Feedback Requested
Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated. I struggled with the white balance and wonder about the saturation level…not enough, or too much? I’ve both added and subtracted, and can’t make up my mind. I think it’s one of those times to put the photo to rest and revisit it later.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Canon 5D IV, EF 70-200 II lens at 70 mm, f/16, 2 sec, ISO 100
1 Like
The colors may be a bit stronger than natural but that’s how it should be. The colors are naturally a bit stronger at this time of day anyway. Perhaps the reds in the clouds should be more yellowish than red? I don’t know.
Looks like wonderful country. I always get a bit excited when I approach a place like this. It reeks of adventure. Even at my age.
Gorgeous! The colors look great to me, and the detail is compelling. This would make a wonderful big print!
As much as I like the sky, I’m wondering about cropping out almost the top half of it. I find the road a bit of an eye magnet and would lower its saturation and maybe bend its color to make it a little less reddish.
That’s a beautiful set up of a dramatic foreground leading to a nice sky. Those mesas are a beautiful in the middle.
The road feels a little awkward running straight; I wish it were a bit of a diagonal into the image. If it’s not against your personal comfort, you could play with removing it.
I’ve struggled with similar images like this in the past. I’ve found that to get the sky saturation to where I want it, the deep reds in the darker areas just get too saturated. I sometimes play with separating the two areas with masks to help keep things more in line with how my eye would adjust if I was bouncing between the sky and the foreground while standing there. Here’s a rough example of what I mean.
Prior to reading any comments, I had the same idea as @John_Williams and therefore quite like the cloned version. The road just looks out of place in the scene to my eye. The colors look natural and good. No other suggestions here, I like it.
I have to say, I didn’t realize it was a road until I read John Williams’ comments - I thought it was something protruding from the bottom of the frame. I think John’s recommendations (colour masking for saturation and removing the road) turn a very good image into an excellent one. But I’d also be inclined to include Diane’s suggestion and crop some of the sky from the top of the frame.
Thanks for the feedback @Diane_Miller , @Igor_Doncov , @Kerry_Gordon , @John_Williams , and @Harley_Goldman . I really appreciate the comments!
A very nice scene. I had the same feelings as @Harley_Goldman and @John_Williams and agree with the comments about the road, so I like the rework posted by @John_Williams .
A place that invites to explore.
