I’ll take a break from posting streams and post some scenic views of the Smokies. I took this shot one early morning when the sun was just coming over the mountains. It was a beautiful cool morning and we just caught the fog before it lifted. I think there might be a few iconic trees along this dirt road that have had their photos taken many times. This very shot could be one of them. I’m hoping this image might be in some way a little different from others, but maybe not since the photography group I was with that morning all took this photo too.
Specific Feedback Requested
Any feedback appreciated
Technical Details
Sony a7Riv 24mm-70mm @ 29mm
f/11
s/1/8
ISO 50
ACR, Photoshop and Color Efex Pro for contrast.
What a beautiful location Donna! Great job with the composition. Strong leading lines. Love the processing. The toppled pole adds a touch of reality to an otherwise surreal image. I love it.
What a great find, Donna. I love the inclusion of the road and the fence line. That bright green grass sure pops as well. I too love that broken fence post. I might be tempted to warm the sky and the mountains just a little bit since the foreground is so warm and the sky is kind of dusty, hazy blue but I would do too much. Beautiful scene and well framed.
@AndreDonawa@David_Haynes@David_Bostock@Igor_Doncov Thank all of you for your kind words. It makes me feel that some day I’ll be as good as all of you. I’m very happy that I was able to post a photo that you enjoyed.
I really love this Donna! The colors are beautiful and slightly unusual in my view. Gray in the road, light green and gray blue - if you tweaked anything in post to put this together, even more kudos. The far mist is just wonderful and the light is so lickable. That one fallen post adds a touch of ennui and longing. Super composition. The sky looks a tad dark at the top edge to my eye, but maybe it was. Brava! Frame it!
Ahh yes, the classic Smokies tree. You did a great job with this one! I remember the conditions all week and how difficult they were with this scene and you did a great job in post processing with it.
@Kris_Smith Thank you for your comments. I don’t think I did a lot of processing on this one, but I opened my .psd file to make sure. I use ACR and I like the calibration tool. I’m sure I brought out the reds, blues and yellows with it. I don’t often use the masking tools in ACR. In Photoshop I took out a few sensor spots. I did a fair amount of D&B. The sun was coming up on my back/left shoulder so the lighting is true to the scene. I just lightened the lights and darkened the blues, bottom of the road and some of the reds. I didn’t use hue saturation at all. Oh, I did bring it into Nik’s Color Efex Pro. I really like their contrast tools. The Smokies got their name because of the blueish haze that is present most of the time and it makes the mountains look blue. The Blue Ridge Mountains are part of the Smokies thus their name. Glad you liked this one.
@David_Johnston Hi David. I’m so glad you like this one. It was one of the favorites I took. I think our group got a little lucky that morning. We were their early enough to catch a little bit of fog lingering in the valley and we had the nice clouds which we didn’t see for most of the workshop. It was an amazing morning I will always remember.
@Matt_Payne Yeah, I got lucky on that one and I promise I didn’t go over and knock it down Glad you like it.
Hi Donna,
I think this is an excellent shot. The processing is really striking and the light and detail are great. If I could change anything, I would lighten the blue at the top of the sky slightly. Not much, but it feels a little dark to me.
