The benefits of looking back

Image Critiques Landscape Critiques
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The benefits of looking back
The benefits of looking back2000×1500 505 KB

Taken on the morning with the most color - while I mainly had my eyes on The Big Show and did that pano and some smaller slices of the big landscape, I also had the presence of mind to look back across the road at what was giving us all that reflected color in the clouds. I’m not 100% sure, but I might have been the only one to do so. We’ll see if anyone else posts a shot of this in our Facebook group.

Anyway…there isn’t much to put in the foreground over there except the park road, so I went for all sky which I probably would have done anyway except for Bigfoot on a Pink Unicorn in the foreground. The road is still a little bit visible there on the bottom, but I left it dark so it wouldn’t draw the eye too much. Again, the colors are real and no sliders were hurt during the making of this image. Saturation +2, Vibrance 0. It’s one of the most amazing skies I’ve ever seen. With bonus Sundog, too.

Specific Feedback Requested

Too much? Too little? Too Instagrammy?

Technical Details

Tripod
Single exposure although I did bracket for insurance.

image

Lr for initial RAW work which wasn’t much honestly. The basic sliders didn’t need much except a little nudge. Added some clarity. Photoshop to tease apart the colors some and to add some clarity to the mid tones. It’s about as SOOC as I get.

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Kris, this is all about the sky, so no need for much in the foreground. I think you balanced it quite nicely. Love the colors and saturation. An awesome sky capture.

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I love the pillar of light and stunning color Kris. I am on the fence about suggesting eliminating the foreground altogether.or reducing it. Overall an excellent image Kris.

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Kris,

A glorious sky indeed! And yes, we’ve all seen intense sunsets and so I think your colors/saturation are quite believable!

Great catch of the sun pillar - that really helps make this more than just a regular, spectacular, sunset. :slight_smile:
Lon

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Thanks @David_Bostock, @Eva_McDermott & @Lon_Overacker - it was a super sky for sure. Just stunning. Makes getting up at 4am worth it!

I did eliminate all of the foreground as a test, Eva, but decided it was just too stark in a way. I think the little strip grounds it a bit and gives some context. But yeah, I don’t think it would suffer too much without it.

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