I just did the Expressive Fall Colors workshop with David & Jennifer and it was great. D & J are wonderful workshop leaders, taking us to scenic spots and helping us with whatever questions we had.
The emphasis was to be on smaller, expressive scenes, but we couldn’t resist the grand landscape when it was right in front of our eyes. Even me - lol. Here is one of my attempts at the grand landscape. It was hard to go wrong with such beautiful light and grand mountains.
Specific Feedback Requested
Any comments welcome - this is not my forte, so I’ll accept any advice.
Technical Details
a7r3, f/16, 220 mm, 1/160s, ISO 400, polarizer. Basic burning & dodging, some slight color adjustments, a bit of a crop.
I am by no means an expert but i love this image. I am sure others will give you better technical advice, but since I visited the San Juan mountains last month for the first time, I fell in love with the grandeur. I love the clouds in the background and the sprinkling of light on the trees that are just starting to show the fall colors. Thank you for posting. If you were happy with D&J and can share more info on them I would appreciate it. Take care.
@Bonnie_Lampley - A beautiful scene in one of the most beautiful and amazing parts of Colorado (Yeah… I’m biased since I grew up in Southwest Colorado).
I like the composition with the 3 distinctive layers of the aspens, the mountains and the sky. The image has so much interest visually.
I do think there is more in your raw file that could make this image even better.
I did a little work on the jpeg and maybe pushed it a bit further than needed, but hopefully to see what is there.
I think the foreground needed a bit more light and importance, I thought the mountains needed a touch of red and warmth, and I thought the sky needed a bit more presence. Here’s the result. See what you think
Keith, you’re right - the raw file certainly has more that can be drawn out. I had originally processed this so the mountains looked more like your version, then thought it might be too much red. I do like your changes. Thanks!
David & Jennifer’s workshop was great. They have in-depth knowledge of the areas in which they offer workshops and go to a lot of trouble to find “good” locations within those areas. They also care about their participants and are always available during the workshop for questions and advice. I appreciate their photographic “attitude”, which emphasizes a personal approach to photography vs. getting the iconic shot. If you didn’t know, they own NPN. Their workshop webpage is Exploring Exposure. Their portfolio webpages are here (David) and here (Jennifer).
What a grand and beautiful alpine landscape. If this is any indication, I’d have to guess you had a great and productive trip! Sadly, I’ve never been to CO or UT for fall color. On my bucket list of course.
I couldn’t put my finger on it, but after seeing Keith’s edits, I agree and think this could use a little “punch.” Not much, but I think there is room to keep this “real.” Not sure all he did, but I’m also thinking some dehaze in ACR/LR could work.
Looking forward to seeing more from your trip and workshop.
As another San Juan has-been (lived in the area for 10 years), this scene brings me back to so many fond memories of walking in the high country in that same area, between Telluride, Ophir and Lizard Head Pass. I like the treatment that @Keith_Bauer demonstrated - as you know, those mountains really are that colorful (indeed, I’m pretty sure the pyramidal summit to the right is Vermillion Peak), so while it may seem like the scene is oversaturated when you bring those colors out, that really is the natural reality of that landscape. I’m glad you had an opportunity to photgraph in that area. Very nice representation of a very nice place!
Thank you @Lon_Overacker and @jefflafrenierre. It was quite enjoyable to photograph in such a different landscape than I’m used to. Jeff, hiking in the high country would be wonderful, for sure. This was taken from somewhere on Last Dollar Road.
Wow, what a different Bonnie picture this is. I like your original more than the rework. Perhaps a bit too much oomph? Keith’s suggestions are good and I would go in that direction.
This is certainly a new direction you are going. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your work. I have to say that my attempts at doing grand landscapes this summer did not give me that much pleasure and I went back to intimates and abstracts. I hope your experiences were better.
@Igor_Doncov, yah, I think Keith’s rework is the best. This grand landscape thing is hard - lol. I think the processing is difficult because I don’t feel a strong connection. It’s much easier for me to process the small scenes and abstracts because I ascribe more meaning to them, which directs the processing.
So, I would not say that I am going in the grand-landscape direction. This was more of an opportunistic situation, being there in those big Colorado mountains, I just had to try my hand at it. The lure of the grand landscape did wane after awhile, though, and I found myself turning my back on the mountains and looking for intimates and abstracts. Some of the workshop folks just couldn’t get enough of the big mountains, though - different strokes and all that!
Part of is that it’s a waiting game. Instead of moving around and arranging the elements within the frame you wait for the elements to arrange themselves within it. If you’re lucky they do. If not - come back another day.
