There was a bit of interest in my previous post in the mountains in the background, which I did not shoot very successfully. This is about the best I got. The sky was really not cooperative, and this has a lot of adjustment brush and even some healing of gray over white skies. I share it for additional feedback, but I think the edges between sky and mountain make it technically a deal breaker for me. I do have some abstracts of this location, but I shared those last month as my initial offerings from Iceland.
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
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I love the curves here, especially the mid-ground slopes. The processing looks good to me. My only nit is the empty sky in the URC, but thereās nothing you can do about it easily.
Not sure what CAās are.
I do see a very slight halo on the mountain/sky edge, but itās not objectionable.
Thanks, Preston. CA=chromatic aberrations. I used the tool to handle that in LR, but I think, between the 105mm limit of the lens, the aperture, and the adjustment brush work, that edge is funky, almost looks like a two dimensional cutout (more two dimensional than most images). I have a half dozen keepers from that mid-ground green. Itās fabulous. I could have spent far more days in that area than we did.
ML
CAās: Thatās what I was thinking, but wasnāt sure. If you have PS, you could create a mask selecting only the sky and work on that with curves, levels, and Hue/Sat.
I would start again from the RAW file, though, making your CA adjustment and global adjustments in ACR and then take the master file into PS and work it up from there. That should help with the mountain/sky edge issue.
Itās a nicely composed image that is worth the tweaks, I believe.
-P
I am enjoying the light on the mountain side despite the gray sky Marylynne. The sheep is so small I would clone it out. I see the fringe along the mountain top but think Prestonās advice will help correct / remove it.
Well, I like the dang brown mountain. CA doesnāt bother me, and Prestonās advise is doable. I know Mark Metternich uses a technique to pull the sky below the horizon. I donāt know how to do it, but in these incidences it might be handy. Iād definitely lose the sheep. I really like this image and Iād do what I could to make it make you happy.
The CAās donāt show much here, although they might be a problem in a large print if you are noticing them at original resolution. If shot raw, hopefully they are tamable in the converter. The sheep is som small I wouldnāt have even noticed it, but if distracting Iād clone it out.
Marylynne: I felt like I was playing āWhereās Waldo?ā with the sheep so I think itās completely insignificant but also not readily noticeable as a sheep so Iām not sure it adds anything. I love the comp and landforms and think you did well with the sky you had. Making me want to go there. >=))>
Thanks folks. I have included a second effort at the image, better addressing the chromatic aberrations. For comparison, Iām also including a wider view of this. I am really kicking myself about not climbing a ridge behind me to get a view without those blasted lava fields, but alas, I was weary and felt rushed.
Let me know if you like the wider one. Itās a crop from about a 32mm shot (I wanted the breadth, but not so much lava or sky). I have to get in the habit of doing vertical panos in situations like this.
Marylynne: I like your repost of the original; small adjustments but very positive. In the wide view the lava field is a bit too heavy for my taste but just right in the original. Solid stuff >=))>
Thanks, Bill. I have another variation on the wide pano view, this one was shot at a slightly longer focal length and was under-exposed, so it had to be brought up, while the one above had to be pulled back a bit. Iām thinking the redo of the first crop is still the ticket, and of course, returning at some point with more time and fewer people.
What a beautiful landscape. To me this image is all about the repeating green ridge lines, as such, I prefer the original aspect ratio to the pano which places too much emphasis on the foreground lava pile. The repost looks good to me but I canāt detect any CA at this resolution in the original.
Thanks @Bradley_Strong for showing the difference here. I am going to do a variety of b+w conversions on my Iceland images, but I have only carried that out with a couple of waterfall images.
I like the mirror image swap too. I donāt think I can do that in LR, and I donāt really use PS. In some ways, I feel like the Top Left to Bottom Right feels like a smooth ride to the bottom, while the bottom left to top right feels like a climb. Not sure yet which one I prefer. I like āending in the airā in some ways, but it does draw attention to the too-bright sky.
Thanks for giving me some excellent food for thought.
ML
That white spot is a sheep? Thatās a great sense of scale. Maybe you should clone it add a few more. Sheep never graze alone, do they?
Beautiful seen with nice layers. It feels a bit flat contrast and saturation-wise to me, but thatās probably just because so many pictures are so amped up nowadays.
There were others, but they are not white and not as visible. They graze in 3s, cuz the litters are generally 2āaccording to my Icelandic guide.
I think it looks a little flat too. The light was flat, so thatās part of it, but am prone to underprocessing, especially for contrast. Iāll throw caution to the wind and amplify it a tish.
ML
