This images was a long time coming for me. Tryfan is a pretty iconic peak in north Wales and very heavily photographed, but many of the shots are VERY similar; wide angle, river in foreground and the peak looking pretty small in the background.
I have been looking for a composition that accentuates the prominence of the peak but also conveys the moody conditions that are often around in the valley. To say I was happy when I found this composition is a bit of an understatement.
I have however struggled a bit with the processing of this (any many other images recently - so I think it’s just me), especially getting the balance between the sky, mountain and foreground to be to my taste. I feel it may lack a bit of punch but don’t want to go overboard.
I’d be interested to hear people’s opinions on how it has been processed. Is it too much or too little? Just a general feedback exercise
What technical feedback would you like if any?
I’d like some feedback on the processing here. I deliberately darkened the image to accentuate the light play on the mountain. I also did a little bit of selective dodging and burning in this area as well as in the sky to bring out the clouds. I’d like to know how people feel about the processing and how it could be improved on?
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
I’m not really looking for any feedback on comp or anything but am happy to hear what people think
Any pertinent technical details:
Sony A7ii | Sony 70-200 f4G
108mm | f/14 | 1/80s | ISO200
I like the comp and light but could see trying to add some additional contrast in the sky to increase the drama there. Also sort of wondering if this might work in monochrome. There some warmth in the snow now, but I’m not sure this adds much. Monochrome could make us focus more on the drama in the shapes and clouds.
Tony, thanks for taking the time to reply. I had added some contrast to the clouds but could try adding some more. I always tend to err on the side of caution when editing. Let’s see what happens
Re the B&W. I did have a play with this idea. I found that the tones in the darks were a bit flat and when I brought them out a bit more detracted from the light sections. The mono also doesn’t really remind me of the experience if that makes any sense. I do have a B&W that I’m doing some more work on and will post when it’s done.
Thanks again for the advice, especially on the sky elements!!
Keep in mind that light (brightness) draws the eye. The little bit of light on the notch between the peaks is intriguing. Even the light on the far ridge (left) could be a focal point. But the extremely bright foreground lower right is like an oncoming headlight – hard to ignore. Decide what you want the viewer to focus on, then play with (manipulate) the light to achieve the effect you want. This could be using a gradient filter, cropping, dodging/burning, etc.
I would say that you succeeded rather nicely with your objective, Eugene. The interplay of light and shadow on the peaks is gorgeous as is the drama with the story sky. I also like the fact that you were able to retain detail in the snow. I have two small tweaks to suggest; just a bit more contrast in the sky and toning down the snow on the slope in the LRC just a touch. This is a beautiful scene!
Rick, thanks for your thoughts. The points you raise are interesting and quite correct. I had the same thought pattern as you as I have three images of the the same view with different light conditions. The other 2 just illuminated the mountain and not the foreground, which while nice images did lack a little depth. The reason i chose this one is that it has layers; the brighter foregroud, some darkness and then brightness again on the peak. I also felt that if you start on the bight foreground or the illuminated left edge that it led you through the image in an S shape when combined with the three triangular elements of the image.
However, I do see your point regarding it being like a headlight. I’ll post the other images up later for some comparison.
Thanks again for commenting and appreciate your insight
Ed, much appreciated. Glad you like the scene. I’m currently working on the sky as per your and Tony’s suggestions. It’s interesting as I always am a bit cautious when it comes to skies as I think I’ll overdo it. I’ll have a look at the snow and see what happens. I did have it down a bit before but it came across a but dull so brought it up again. I had some other thoughts about it ealier that I may try. Thanks for your feedback
Eugene: I like your last repost and how you worked the sky. With that said I find my eye going to the sky and away from the land features. I might crop some from the top so that the sky doesn’t occupy 40% or so of the frame. Wonderful capture of a wonderful moment.>=))>
Hi Bill! Thanks very much for the feedback on the re-edit. It’s much appreciated.
The difficulty for me is that I wanted to the sky to be a feature of the image, which it is. I do kind of see what you are on about though although I feel rather than through cropping I could reduce the drama/contrast a bit. What do you think to that? If you go back to the first image the main subjects are more prominent due to the less dramatic sky, in my opinion of course
Cheers Chris! Yes, I’m very glad I managed to get something too, I have been looking for a while. I was scrolling through my instagram feed the other day and there were 5 images, from 5 different people IN A ROW, of the classic view
