Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Fall in the Klamath Basin. This view is from the Lava Beds NM of a portion of the Lower Klamath NWR called Sheepy Ridge. The cloud cover made for a dramatic sky and the long shadows and spotlighting.
Specific Feedback
I lifted the shadows quite a bit in this, hope it doesn’t show too much in the noise content. I used Topaz denoise to reduce some of the noise.
Technical Details
Canon 60D, f22, 1/200 sec, iso 400, -1.3 EV, 24-105 lens at 88 mm, flash on, with tripod.
Second version is same as the first except it was taken at 47 mm
You pointed out my favorite parts of the image Ed; the nice clouds and the lovely side light.
I especially like the light playing on that ridge and the fields to the right. In fact, I wonder what this would have looked like without the foreground tree? Those checkerboard fields are interesting.
You mention having to lift the shadows a lot, and since this was on a tripod it might have been worth playing with a second image exposed for the shadows and then blended with this image. As is, the foreground vegetation is a bit muted and adding some contrast would be worth playing with.
I’m not picking up on significant noise, but the image does seem a bit soft. (Maybe from the noise reduction?) I think it could be sharpened a bit more.
I played with those thoughts a bit, and also reduced the green just a skosh to warm the image slightly. Maybe not improvements, but it was fun to play with the ideas. 
Great subject and light. Nice dramatic sky. The image looks extremely soft to me. What is your web sharpening technique? If you want, I can post the technique I use. F22 might have contributed some softness, but not that much. The tree looks far enough away that you might not have needed to stop down that much. Why did you have the flash on?
@John_Williams thank you for taking a look and a crack at this image John. I am posting a second view of the scene taken with a smaller aperture. I was trying to get more DOF with the f22, but I realize it really didn’t get m e much, just slowed the shutter speed. I used the flash to try to get more fill light in the foreground, but obviously it was like spitting in the wind a bit here, which, as I recall was blowing pretty well too.
@Michael_Lowe thank you for taking a look and trying to help me figure out how to get something out of this. I used Topaz denoise and sharpen for the darker areas where I lifted shadow. I would absolutely appreciate seeing what your web sharpening technique is Michael. Thank you very much.
Ed,
Very cool! I recognized this immediately before seeing the title - although I was surprised I did… it’s been 30 years since I’ve been there, but in the 90’s my buddy, also a former NPN’er used to go every winter. Went initially chasing the bald eagles and waterfowl, but returned year after year for the beautiful landscape! Thanks for bringing back those memories!
Beautiful light on this pleasantly composed landscape. I think the shadow work looks really good on the ridge, except a little muddy on the ridge far left; also, and very minor, the shadows are a little blue to me. But other wise colors, sat all look good.
Michael asked about the use of flash… my guess was to just add a little fill light on the forward-right tree? I think close enough flash could have reached? but I dunno.
Noise is minimal to me. I can see the comments about softness, although for me, it’s mostly just in the sage; the juniper and Sheepy ridge have good detail.
Great complimentary clouds and again the light on Sheepy ridge and the Tule basin are wonderful
I’m joining the retired ranks after 41 years this coming Friday! thanks for sharing!
@Lon_Overacker thank you so much for your complimentary critique Lon. Congratulations on your soon coming retirement. I hope you will have the freedom to do some more of the things you want to do now. My wife and I went up to this area in January hoping to catch some of the eagles and waterfowl. It was a total bust. There was no water for any of the wildlife refuges in the area. There was no snow either. I’m hoping they’re getting better moisture with these last couple months of good rains in California. 
Ed, I think this technique was developed by Steve Perry, don’t remember. It usesPhotoshop.
You need to decide what dimensions you want for your image. I usually go with 2000 pixels on the long edge for NPN.
Go to Image> Image Size. Multiply the 2000 by 1.67 and enter that in your width or height
Go to Filter> Sharpen
Duplicate the background layer and go to Filter> Sharpen again.
Add a layer mask to the background layer.
Now resize the image to actual size of 2000.
Sometimes the image might look oversharpened. If so you can adjust the opacity of the layer mask as needed.
I make an action set in PS to automate the process. I usually save this for the last step after I’ve adjusted my image. To save it for web I go to File> Save For Web.
There I make sure JPEG is listed and convert to srgb. You can adjust the quality with the slider or enter an amount to get the correct file size. I think anything over 2MB does not display correctly on NPN.
