Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Just a nice ride into the foot hills on a sunny day in Montana.
Nikon Z9 200-400mm lens iso 125 f/11
This is a nice image that really says winter. I wonder though if it might be stronger without the row of trees at the bottom.
Sue, Welcome to NPN.
Most appropriate image for March when the non-mountain West is void of snow, crazy winter. I’m fine with the trees in the FG as they give the image depth and start the eye in the FG leading to the mountains. I’d cut down the brightness of the sky as that’s where my eye goes. I think there are a number of images that can be made from this one. I tinkered with b&w just for fun with a crop, but this is not to diminish your scene at all.
I hope you will be posting more on NPN.
OMG I love what you did with the black and white. I will try this. I agree the brightness of the sky might be too much. I noticed this too. But I love the black white image better. Did you do anything to the sky on this?
Thanks for the response… Sue
Sue, Glad you like the B&W. I have found that many images in mid-day with a lot of blue convert well to B&W. First I converted the image to B&W. I used the Nik Software Silver Efex Pro3 for the conversion, but you could do it just as well in Photoshop - Layer > New Adjustment layer > B&W. Then adjust the color sliders to get the look you are seeking. After converting, I used the TK9 plugin in Photoshop and selected the sky and foreground as separate channels so I could work with each separately. I wanted to darken the sky and increase contrast in the foreground to deepen the shadows around the trees. I also tried to achieve detail in the foreground snow. You need to try different settings and just have fun with it. Don’t worry if you don’t get it the way you want right away. You can go back at any time and re-edit. Hope this helps.
This is a real winter postcard and I mean that in the most complimentary way. Personally, I like the row of trees on the bottom because of the contrast between the straight Euclidian geometry of the shrubs (that seem to be following the straight line of a road) in the foreground and the fractal geometry of the hills and mountain ridge beyond.
I’m not sure if you are familiar with what is known as “split toning” because this is a technique that could really add to this image. Split toning requires the ability to make masks. In this case I’d want to make a luminosity mask of the brightest parts of the image - mostly the snow that isn’t in shadow. Using that mask I’d want to push my temperature slider to the right, towards the warmer yellow tones. Even if you don’t have access to luminosity mask making you could still push the temperature slider over to the right (warmer) and then place a black mask over it and hand paint with a white brush the areas of unshadowed snow where you want more of a warm, yellow cast. It can be fun to play with light and colour in that way especially with an image like this one.
Thanks Kerry…
I do use Lightroom and masking… … I think split toning involves color grading in lightroom. Not exactly sure that’s what you mean. But I will give it a try in Lightroom… Thanks for the ideas.
Hi Larry… thanks for the B/W ideas. I do use Lightroom and not photoshop. I am hoping I can find some creative ways to match some what you are saying with it. I need to take some lessons in Photoshop… 
I have it on my computer but rarely use it.
sue
Sue,
In Lightroom Classic go to Basic Panel> profile> monochrome> open B+W tab and adjust the colors to match the B&W tones as you like them. Of course, you can use the local adjustment masks for sky and foreground separately. The tone sliders such as exposure, blacks, whites, highlights, and shadows should get the sky and foreground close to what you want. Then use either the object tool or radial gradient to adjust the center mountains and contrast on shadows by the trees. You can also use the linear gradient, and/or color or luminance range mask to make the snow look to your taste. Hope this helps.
