Pamela Hoaglund
May 2022 - Half Done Sunset
Original
About the Image(s)
I spent last week on a photography workshop in Yosemite National Park. This was sunset one night along the Merced River with Half Dome reflected in the river. I used a 10 stop ND filter to slow the shutter speed enough to get a soft flow to the river. Taken with my Sony 7M2, Tamron 28 – 75 mm 2.8 lens. ISO 100, 20 sec at f/8. Post processed in ON1 2022 with basic white and black point adjustment, added dynamic contrast and a vignette. I also cropped in from the right side.
This round’s discussion is now closed!
7 comments posted
What a lovely image. The water is silky, and the reflection shows beautifully. I think the mountain rock is a bit bright and can be taken back a small amount. The trees are well captured and processed. Well done. Posted: 05/08/2022 14:36:19
Nice use of the 10 stop ND. It paid dividends here. I think I'd warm the image up a bit, at least Half Dome. I think I'd also play with the hue of the blue in the sky and possibly the luminosity as well. The composition is pleasing and I love the foreground. Posted: 05/09/2022 17:37:06
Thanks. The sky was a real problem for most of the week I was in Yosemite. We finally got a few clouds on the last day. This is one that tempts me to replace the sky but that is not my editing style. I will work on the dome to make it warmer. Posted: 05/12/2022 16:39:26
I love that water. The colors and silky swirls are very pleasing. Your crop works well, but I love the tree in the upper right of the original. I think cropping from the left and preserving that tree would generate another fine image. I agree with Mkke that the light should be adjusted. The water looks fine, but the sky, Half Dome and adjacent mountains look almost overexposed in your edited version. Just as an aside, your title is intriguing. I can't decide whether you meant that the sunset was half done, or the word processor mutated Dome to Done. Posted: 05/12/2022 17:29:36
I tried to keep the tree on the right however, some people were on the beach and lingered long enough that they became ghosts in the image. I tried taking them out using several methods and it was just making a mess so I just cropped them out. Good catch on the title, it should have said Half Dome Sunset but I guess Half Done Sunset works also. Posted: 05/12/2022 19:30:05
(Group 90)
I really really like the post work you did, however I'm not a fan of the composition. As a landscape of a sweeping space it feels very constrained. Comparing the original with the final I actually prefer the comp of the former.
Posted: 05/15/2022 17:43:13
Posted: 05/15/2022 17:43:13
I am very partial to vertical pesentations for this type of image, so like your choice to present it that way. To me, the "robin-egg blue" hue of the sky does not seem realistic (although I feel you pain about the lack of clouds because that is exactly what I experience when I spent a week in and around Yosemite). I would suggest playing with the hue and trying to get it a little more blue and less aqua, and I do think Mike is onto somehting with the luminance issue. Based on my experience, half dome looks just right to me. You have opened up the shadows quite a bit, but I wonder if you could push it just a bit further so the image is not so contrasty? I like the effect of the 10 stop ND filter on the foreground. I wonder if you could have made one image without the ND filter so the exposure would be right on the trees and the mountains on the left and right and then combined it with the filtered image to get everything exposed right. (Hindsight is always 20/20, isn't it?) Posted: 05/16/2022 09:51:17