Marilyn Peake  


Blue Water Through the Canyon by Marilyn Peake

January 2020 - Blue Water Through the Canyon

January 2020 - Marilyn Peake

Original

About the Image(s)

I took this photograph at the Grand Canyon in September 2017. It was a beautiful day. It was the first time I'd ever been to the Grand Canyon and thoroughly enjoyed the spectacular views. I thought the blue water winding its way through this part of the canyon was especially pretty against the red color in the rocks.

I shot this photo handheld with a Nikon D7200, f/18, 1/500 sec., ISO-1000. I edited in Photoshop. I straightened the horizon and cropped. I increased vibrance, saturation and contrast and decreased brightness.


This round’s discussion is now closed!
16 comments posted




Bob Wills   Bob Wills
I'm happy you had such a good day to view our natural wonder, and that the normally blah brown Colorado was blue. I wonder if the canyon was your subject, or the river. I am providing a crop that shows off the Colorado more, in my opinion. I'm assuming this image was taken from the south rim. I used the mid-canyon plateau (or the North rim) for a horizon, as it appears to me, that the image tilts to the right. Good color and sharp. I hope you got to watch the sunrise, but if not, I would go again as it creates a marvelous experience.   Posted: 01/08/2020 10:11:49
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Marilyn Peake   Marilyn Peake
Thanks so much! I love the way you made the blue water more of the focus. Yes, we were on the South rim. What do you mean about using the mid-canyon plateau and or the North rim for a horizon? We didn't get up early enough for sunrise. I should definitely do that some time. At night, the sky was so clear, however, we got to see the Milky Way. It was extraordinary.   Posted: 01/08/2020 22:47:37
Bob Wills   Bob Wills
I was unclear. When there is not a trustworthy horizon like the sea, then I try to find something in the middle, like the top of the plateau that will make the image appear to be level when used to straighten the image. After that I try to find something vertical. Interior architecture is especially challenging for me.
In this image the background mountains do not provide a straight horizon. My workflow begins with leveling, as an image not purposefully tilted makes the viewer uncomfortable, and to be truthful all the little levels on cameras and tripods are not all that accurate. Hope that clarifies things.
In my case, it is never an operator error!
I'm really glad you were able to view our galaxy's core.   Posted: 01/09/2020 10:10:53
Marilyn Peake   Marilyn Peake
Thanks for explaining what you meant, Bob. Those are good tips.   Posted: 01/12/2020 23:26:15



 
Great composition. Have you tried tone mapping in this shot? Another suggestion is highlight and shadow adjustments in Photoshop. I think you can pull out some detail in the big shadow. (If this was mine, I would also crank up the reds in saturation.)   Posted: 01/10/2020 22:01:28
Marilyn Peake   Marilyn Peake
Thanks for the suggestions, Bob. I'm just learning Photoshop. I'm hoping in the future to be able to do the things with highlights and shadows that you suggested. I really love Photoshop, but there's a lot to learn. I purchased some books on the program and am making my way through them.   Posted: 01/12/2020 23:28:39



 
This is a really nice view of the canyon. I found it difficult to see the river well in most places, so I am well impressed with this view. I know it is often hazy and I felt your photo could be brighter without the haze. All I did was use ACR filter to decrease the haze. One slide of the filter and it looks much better to me. I did make an effort to level it. I could find no true horizontal or vertical lines to guide me so adjusted it until I felt it looked level. The ridge top is not level so I just had to guess. Not very scientific, but it seemed to work. The colors are beautiful, the image is well framed, there is a foreground, a middle ground, and a distant ground, and the river is a nice contrast to the rugged cliffs. Very nice.   Posted: 01/12/2020 20:13:08
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Marilyn Peake   Marilyn Peake
Wow, you did an awesome job of removing the haze! Did you do that with Photoshop?   Posted: 01/12/2020 23:29:45
 
Yes, I used ACR and went to the fX page then slid the dehaze filter to the left until it cleared the haze. Very easy.   Posted: 01/19/2020 17:56:44



Paul Hoffman   Paul Hoffman
I think you have chosen a good viewpoint to show off the vastness of the amazing place, the work you have done in PS is good and you are improving well. As you see from Elizabeth's versions there is more you can do with the dehaze slider and you could have bought a touch more out of the shadows. But at the same time lifted the blacks to give more depth. But very strong effort.

Here is a little trick for you, in Lightroom or Bridge whichever raw you use, in develope first panel you have, Highlights, Shadows, Whites & Black.
With your camera, move the highlight slider to the left to -75, move the shadow to +75. Now hold down the shift key and click the word white, then click the word black. This balances the image to a perfect black and perfect white with the tones throughout. this gives you a good base to see what is possible from the image.   Posted: 01/14/2020 09:26:10
Bob Wills   Bob Wills
Paul, Your comment states "With your camera." Is this tip related only to Nikon? It didn't seem to set the black clipping point for my Fuji images, but did set the white clipping point. Other than possibly setting the clipping points, do you know what this tip affecting?
You can also set the clipping points by holding the shift key, while using the back and white slider to slightly remove any black or white clipping, but I don't know if tone is distributed evenly. The Auto tone button in ACR (PS 2019 or 2020) or Lightroom CC works pretty well now and is a great starting place for tone.
Shows you how much redundancy is built into Adobe.   Posted: 01/14/2020 11:03:12
Paul Hoffman   Paul Hoffman
The only reason I mention "your camera" is that a full-frame can go to 100% instead of 75%.
I know that Lightroom and PS, but this is a great way to see what potential you have in the image tonal range. It something I have been doing for years and gave got used to and may not work for others and goes back to my days of working in the print industry.   Posted: 01/17/2020 07:03:16
Bob Wills   Bob Wills
Thanks for your reply, Paul.   Posted: 01/17/2020 10:39:05
Marilyn Peake   Marilyn Peake
Thanks for the suggestions, Paul. I still have a lot to learn about Photoshop.   Posted: 01/16/2020 22:37:52



Raymond Zurschmitten   Raymond Zurschmitten
A wonderful picture, where the plane in the background and the heel in the foreground bring out the mightiness and depth of the depicted canyon. I think you could work out these beautiful colors better and get a more effective image.   Posted: 01/15/2020 03:43:50
Marilyn Peake   Marilyn Peake
Thanks, Raymond!   Posted: 01/16/2020 22:38:11