What changed: I adjusted the lights, blacks a bit in my sky mask to lessen the overall brightness and to try and find a more harmonious balance between the sky and land. The DJI dng file leaves something to be desired compared to my R5 RAW files that I am used to. I need to play with this some more…always learning!
Added after receiving feedback from the community.
The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical
About This Image
This is my first visit to this part of Utah. I’ve spent the last two evenings shooting “Factory Butte”. I am just mesmerized by the shear tenacity of the landscape here that is constantly being deconstructed by mother nature yet some features, like this butte, have stood for thousands of years trying to resist that change. I thought the foreground and lines leading up onto the butte suited the weekly challenge.
Feedback Requested
I have been torn processing this image which was very flat out of the camera. I tried to capture the mood of an overcast evening in this ever changing stark environment. With this scene, it seemed very easy to over do the contrast and make it too “Lord of The Rings’ish”. I was attempting to strike a balance and portray something closer to what my eye was seeing.
Processed in LR using “Rethink” - mainly edited sky and foreground with masks, raising whites and lowering blacks to boost contrast. Also brushed in some lights to bring out the lighter tones in the rocks on the butte itself.
Wow, this jumped right out at me! I love the foreground and the leading lines. I’m afraid I am not very good at critiquing photos yet, I struggle with my own, and this is not what you are asking about, but the one thing I would question is if maybe you want to crop a tiny bit off the top? Just a thought. Striking image.
Keith, the lines and textures in the land and the butte are outstanding! I also think that the contrast between the highly textured land and softly textured sky adds interest. Having some warm color in the tip of the butte makes it a fine change-of-pace, The sky immediately above the tip is brighter than elsewhere. That may be real, but I wonder how a bit of burning-in there or dodging elsewhere to even out the sky brightness would look.
Great to see an image post from you! Hope all is well!
What a grand and beautiful landscape! The “badlands” or whatever the term is for the eroded landscape… is simply fascinating. YOu did an great job composing this. The butte is showcased beautifully.
For me, I think I almost prefer the original version, although I really like the boosted contrast in the landscape. But I liked the sky in the original. So, what the heck, I combined the two and painted back in the sky. I added the inset to show the layers. pretty basic.
Otherwise, no nits or suggestions. This was captured and presented beautifully.
First off, nice to see a post from you again. This is an amazing scene. I love the way the erosion has created those mesmerizing lines in the landscape as they direct the viewer towards the butte. The touch of warm light on the top of the butte makes for a lovely focal point and I like the subdued colors in the scene. IMO @Lon_Overacker hit the sweet spot on the processing of the sky; not to dark and not to bright. This is beautifully done; I hope you have some more from the area to share.
Keith: Oh this is fine! Great lines and wonderful light. I’ve not been to that part of Utah myself so your image pushed it higher on the bucket list. A terrific subject superbly captured and presented. >=))>
Thank you all @Elizabeth@Ed_Lowe@Huw_Thomas@Bill_Fach for the helpful feedback! Surprisingly with such a limited palatte to work with, I found it challenging to strike a processing balance that felt right. Had it been a green forest and mountain scene it would have been much easier to come up with a pleasing image. This particular area is reminiscent of Twenty Team Mule Canyon DVNP but on a whole different scale. @Mark_Seaver The dng file was not as forgiving as I am used to and after your comment, I went back and backed off a bit on the sky brightness which also helped pull back a tad on a fringe halo around the top of the butte. Thank you for that! @Lon_Overacker Thanks Lon! It is great to be home and I want to get out to the SNWR and Point Reyes in a couple of months, hopefully with some others from the @NORCAL group!
Ed_Lowe
(Ed Lowe)
selected this as an Editor's Pick
10
Wonderful leading lines directing the viewer towards that soft warm light on the top of the butte.
Hi Keith,
This is fantastic, and I like the idea of cropping just a tiny bit off the top. While the sky echoes the landscape in its ridges, it competes a bit for me, especially in the more contrasty version. Possibly original sky and a tish off the top? But really, it needs nothing.
I have a DJI MiniPro, and man do I find it hard to dial in exposure. I don’t know whether it’s the sensor or being aerial itself that makes it a different beast. Mines not the Mavic but the mini, so that could be it too. It’s not a high end model (about 1k though, so not a toy).
Amazing and really beautiful image, Keith! I like it a lot. For me the sweet spot is to keep the sky from the original version and combine it with the slightly more contrasty land from the repost. It’s awesome what one can shoot from higher up using a drone!
I’ve pretty much only used drones for commercial projects and kinda of poo poo them for landscape photography thinking it was cheating and the quality was sub par. But drones give a whole new perspective and while I find locations where it is suitable/legal to fly one, it is yet another way to express photographically that is exciting! I wish I had brought my Mavic Pro on this trip now for the added image quality!
Thank you @Tom_Nevesely I agree and I just need to keep falling into bad habits of too contrasty or over saturations from my older days of photography. I’m kinda glad that I received your feedback vs the “it appears crunchy and too contrasty” pit that I used to fall in!
This is beautiful, Keith. All the eroded hills and gullies in the FG make for some great leading lines directing thge viewer to the butte and the nice warm color at the top. I’m leaning toward liking the original better. The sky is more pleasing to my eye. JMHO
