The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This was a handheld shot while walking in Yosemite. The kind you see out of the corner of your eye
and think “I’ve never seen or noticed that before.” I had put some effort into getting a good (more classic) shot of El Capitan, but I like this shot much more. It seemed very striking to me.
Specific Feedback
While I did list standard critique …gloves are off for you…any and all comments welcome!
What I like:
The strong contrast between the foreground lights and the background darks
The dynamic view of the ledge vs the vertical of El Capitan
What I dislike:
I am truthfully not sure what I dislike…
A word about what I tried to do here with edits:
This photo had a pretty high dynamic range.
Foreground- tried to maintain a good level of detail while working on the lighting.
Background- did a lot of work bringing out (from shadows) the wall details and adjusting the color + white balance.
Technical Details
Fuji X-T4 70-300 lens @ 140mm
f10 1/250s ISO 500
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
This looks like the Diveboard in front of Half Dome. It’s a nice composition. I didn’t think you could make a handheld shot from this perspective but I could be wrong. It’s a wonderful location. I rememer it well.
Hi James, thank you for sharing your beautiful image, immediately makes me want to go hiking there! I very much like the contrast between the bright, warmer toned ledge in the foreground and the darker, cooler toned background. I would however consider cropping in from the left a bit, but that’s maybe personal preference. Beautiful image!
Hey @James_Bartek - cool scene here!
I find the comp to be quite pleasing with the different elements offering nice contrast.
I’m wondering how this might do in black and white?
Also - is this cropped significantly at all? I’d be curious to hear your processing on it.
I think it has nice balance… try a slight crop in from the right?
I don’t have anything else to add constructively @James_Bartek , but I will say this. Having been to Yosemite a number of times and of course seen many many images of Yosemite, I really like the scene you captured, unique comes to mind, which is harder and harder to do in such an iconic location. Well seen!!!
Thanks Matt. Once I get my desktop out of the box and running again I will definitely play with the cropping on this photo. Not sure what I did. And do a little black and White work with a virtual copy.
As for processing here is my recollection:
I think I went through 3 iterations of editing this photo. Here is the last.
Quick adjustments in LRc to get a better balanced base image to work with. No sharpen or denoise.
Topaz for denoise (always with X-T4). Then for sharpening. As I recall it took 45 minutes playing with the different looks and adjustments to get something I liked.
Photoshop for a) color grade separately for background and foreground. b) white balance for background. 45 min for best look for color tone + detail. c) Brightness & contrast separately for foreground and background. d) Dodge & burn for balance and detail.
I’m curious why you are using Topaz for denoise “always” on the XT-4? I’ve found LR denoise to be superior in all ways. Topaz can introduce really strange artifacts which I think it might have done here, plus, at ISO 500 I’m not sure you need much if any denoise.
Interesting… I have had the most difficulty with noise when converting to jpg. I found Photoshop better than LRC. But, definitely has been an issue that I have seen. My rule of thumb for any changes in an image is that 20% change with any adjustment can cause issues. I also read somewhere that if you follow an image across conversions with file type-upload-download-etc it can cause degradation, For Topaz I don’t always accept it’s auto selection. I usually compare it’s 4 main methods with a zoomed view. I also will dial it’s controls manually if I think it’s too heavy or light handed. I have had less success with LR denoise & (especially) sharpen. Could be my method? Once I get my desktop computer back together I will be very interested to trace back and investigate noise & artifacts issues.
I don’t know what your workflow is but this is best practice:
Import RAW into LR; set sharpening to none
Make adjustments to RAW file in LR, including denoise if needed
Make further adjustments to RAW file in PS (open file in PS; make sure in LR preferences you are using PSD files and not TIFF files, and it is set at 300 PPI)
Sharpen selectively using high pass or other methods
Save (which reimports to LR)
Export JPG from LR (I’ve created various presets for exporting depending on the use case, which change the file size, long-edge size, etc.)
I find this to be a wonderfully unique image from Yosemite which is very hard to because the place has been shot from every angle covering just about every square inch but you did it. I like the composition a lot. I also like the contrast between the unlit, flat vertical rock wall and the very well lit, heavily angled, platform with forest growth. They are so different. Great of you to see this and compose it like you did. Good eyes. Most probably would not have seen this like you did. Well done.
In the story Igor, it is mentioned as the Diving Board but Ansel named the image the monolith so you were correct. Here is the quote from the article: When the group reached the Diving Board, a steep outcropping more than 3,500 feet above Yosemite Valley, Ansel knew this was the perfect vista from which to capture Half Dome’s sheer face.
Thanks for that David. Much appreciated. I remember hiking along, looking up, tilting my head like a cocker spaniel, and thinking…“what about that?” It’s nice to find one once in awhile. Observing and re-framing in that photographer thinking mode.
That’s how I remembered as well, David. But when I googled it up it showed the lip on the very top of half dome as the diving board. When you look at that it does look like a diving board. Anyway, back to the real subject here - the image. There is a lot of empty space on the left. I actually remember composing this image 40 years ago and trying to figure out how much of the image should be devoted to the face vs the board. In this case I might have made a vertical of it.
