Timeless Profile

[Lon_Overacker]

ORIG

REWORK

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

I’ve alwasy loved and photographed Yosemite’s profile like this, and from a couple different locations. Maybe it’s just the familiarity of the landscape for me (as others who have never been, won’t have the same connection.)

This is another image from our recent get together in Yosemite and the last morning where the clouds had finally broken.

A quick, funny story if you’ll indulge… The night before I had told the group I was “spent”; not getting any sleep and with the rain I was not likely to get up for sunrise. Then in the middle of the night while still not sleeping I noticed the rain subsiding and what looked like fog developing in the campground. Then around 3am I saw the near full moon thru the… ha ha, moon roof. I wasn’t sleeping and also had to use the bathroom… oh, what the hell, let’s get up and head to Tunnel View. I arrived at 4:15am or so, pulled in the parking lot to just 2 vehicles, dowsed the headlights and noticed 1 photographer at the wall. I got out the gear, walked towards the wall and in a nice, morning friendly gesture said “Good morning” to the other photographer. Then I hear, “Lon, is that you?” Dang it if it wasn’t my buddy and member of our group already there at the wall for stars and sunrise. Of all the photogs in the valley up at this hour, and it’s just the 2 of us (remember we had no idea each would be there.) Anyway we photographed the night sky AND moonlit Yosemite valley for nearly an hour before the moon set. This was taken just after 5am and the moon had already gone down, so thus this profile image was able to be taken.

Eventually, other photographers began showing up, including most of the rest of our group.

As far as the “profile” goes, from left to right, there is El Capitan, Cloud’s Rest, Half Dome, Sentinel Dome and Cathedral rocks located just about Bridal Veil falls

Specific Feedback

I realize this a very simple image. It was fortunate and I was happy about the nice little set of whispy clouds conveniently located. As I mention below, this is a blend of two images to enhance/increase the star presence up top; also trying to consider and blance the approaching dawn, so the stars were starting to diminish anyway.

I’m specifically looking to hear what you think about the processing, colors, exposure, etc. The color along the horizon I struggled with. Does it look natural?

And as always, your impressions, comments and suggestions are always welcome. Thank you!

EDIT: Adding reworked image adding a little more saturation and updating the star image to the Lighten blending mode. Also did some masking with a brush on the layer.

Technical Details

Nikon Z8, Z24-120mm @24mm, f/4.0 1.6s iso640.

I brought my Tamron 17-35mm hoping for some night photography, but alas, I left the FTZ lens converter at home and so couldn’t use the wider/faster lens! grrrrr

Technically this is a 2-image composite/blend. The single frame was working pretty well, but I had conveniently taken a full sky star image at the same time, and so I blended in the upper sky for some better, if not just subtle star presence.

[Preston_Birdwell]

Beautifully done, Lon. No nits. The wispy clouds make the shot for me.
-P

[Youssef_Ismail]

Lon,

Striking photo. Looks very natural as far as the color and saturation. I did not notice the faint stars, but after looking again, they add a great deal to the photo. The wispy clouds is just icing on the whole thing giving a sense of atmosphere. I’m glad you kicked yourself into going, it was worth it, and is that not always the case?

[Diane_Miller]

WOW!! Classic beauty at its best! The simplicity is perfect, understating the obvious view from this special location! The bit of mist couldn’t be more perfectly shaped or placed, and the pre-dawn blush is so just right! I think the simplicity of the image could bear even more saturation – just a bit. I had to really squint to see the stars. I think you could bring them out just a bit more. (I’m assuming they were put in with one of the lighten blend modes.)

There is some posterization in the image on the site, but none when I download the JPEG and view it at 100% on my computer.

And what a wonderful story – great minds tend to work the same way!

[Lon_Overacker]

Thank you @Preston_Birdwell , @Youssef_Ismail and @Diane_Miller for your comments so far.

Diane - thank you! I had already pushed the saturation a little, and have tweaked just a little more. I noticed when tweaking these adjustments, it’s easy to start to see banding and pixelation, which of course I don’t want.
Now I’ve known about blending skies/stars and using the “Lighten” blending mode, but when I looked back on that layer, hmmm, it was just normal. So tweaked some duplicated layers with vayring opacity and the blending mode. Hopefully now, and I think, the stars have a bit more presence.

Thanks for the comment and suggestions!

[Diane_Miller]

Wonderful, to me!! This is such a bold piece of graphic art – if you’ve got it, flaunt it!

[Mark_Seaver]

Lon, this looks great. A fine mix of profile, colors, clouds and stars. I especially like the lighter sky and how the stars show in the redo. A minor thought is to crop about half of the distance between the two rocks “leaning in” on the right and the frame.

[Don_Peters]

I like it very much, Lon. It’s dramatic and simple.

[Marylynne_Diggs]

Gorgeous, Lon. You mention that it’s a simple image, and perhaps because of the silhouette, it is. But that is what makes it so fantastic. The fact that we can recognize El Capitan and Half Dome (most landscape and nature buffs can), despite the lack of granite texture/color, despite the apparent lack of context, makes this pretty magical.

I like the retouch, especially with a bit more rosiness in the lower sky between the major landmarks. S

And regarding your story, sometimes the easiest way to get up early is to not go to sleep…I’m glad it worked for you so we could see this image.

ML

[John_Williams]

I really enjoy icons when the are uniquely done, and I’ve not seen many (any?) Tunnel View shots like this. I love the profile and the beautiful sky above. Glad that insomnia paid off! I, of course, was sound asleep and missing the good stuff again

If you want the stars to pop a little more, you can pretty easily create a mask to brighten them. I don’t want to hijack the thread with details unless you are interested, but here’s an example (best seen at full size):

[Igor_Doncov]

Simple yet elegant. One thing about simple images is that they are never that simple. That’s like those minimalist images people make. Good ones always have some fine color and tonal gradations that are almost imperceptible (in the negative space).

This image is personally interesting because the other day I was looking at how the light and color on clouds change during a sunset. At this point the sun is so low that none of it is hitting the clouds. Photography makes you observe the world more intensely.

One thing I wonder - would this image be as powerful if we didn’t recognize the landmarks. I think it would, but in a different way.

Strange as it may seem I think the white frame makes the image even more intense.

[Michael_Lowe]

Lon, a great minimalist silhouette photograph. Love it. Yes it is a timeless very iconic profile.

[joaoquintela (João Quintela)]

This is very nice.
the rework work for me nicelly.

[Diane_Miller]

Thumbs up for @John_Williams ’ star enhancement!