Wayne Stelk  


Hiking the Peek-a-Boo Trail Bryce Canyon by Wayne Stelk

October 2018 - Hiking the Peek-a-Boo Trail Bryce Canyon

October 2018 - Wayne Stelk

Original

About the Image(s)

My wife and I just returned from a vacation in southern Utah, visiting Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. Having captured 1,500 images (RAW) while in these amazing parks, it was difficult to select one image for presentation to the study group. This image captures a view along the Bryce Canyon peek-a-boo trail that begins at Sunset Point along the rim and ends at Sunrise Point (about a 6 miles hike). There is no good way to capture the grandeur of Bryce Canyon, nor Zion for that matter. What captured me, at mid-day, was the lighting on the different layers of rock and sediment that have collected and eroded over millions of years. I post-processed with Lightroom Classic, adjusting only color balance and contrast. The hazy-look in the sky to the left is from a brush fire that was burning along the western slope of the canyon.


Sony DSC-RX10 IV, 1/640 at f/4.0, 24 mm. Sept 14, 2018 at 2:00 pm.


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




Barbara E Miller   Barbara E Miller
(Group 5)
Some trip and I can imagine your delight with the scenes--now to catalogue them eh?
The FG is spectacular but I find the red of the BG almost too much, but I suppose this is an accurate rendition of what you saw. The fact that it is blurred from a brush fire is part of the record shot but it doesn't enhance the overall image and in competition the judge would not necessarily know the reason for the blurring. The blue sky is a beautiful BG for the outstanding brilliance of the image.
  Posted: 10/01/2018 19:56:12



Stephen Levitas   Stephen Levitas
(Group 32)
What a great time you must have visiting these spectacular places. This is such a striking image. Along with Barbara, I think the colors seem almost a bit too much--how about showing us your original image and we all discuss post-processing? Thanks.   Posted: 10/01/2018 22:24:50



 
Thanks for your feedback, Barbara and Stephen. I agree about the red and orange over-saturation. As you can see from the original, the haze from the nearby wildfire muted the scene. When viewing the scene, I was struck by the radiance of the white sediment layer standing out from the orange/red layers. I took many shots of that wall from different vantage points on the trail. Using the color sliders in LR, I tried to darken with red and orange layers in the hope of contrasting the white layer. Given that the LR color sliders are universal, I had to cope with the balance between hue and saturation in the FG and BG. In photos like these, I try to use the luminescence sliders to brighten colors. Ultimately, I wasn't able to make the white as radiate as I saw it and I will go back to lighten the oranges and reds. Perhaps I could have more localized control of color in PS, but I'm not there yet. Your feedback is helpful.   Posted: 10/03/2018 06:55:20
Larry Treadwell   Larry Treadwell
Just a quick response to your note. In Lightroom have you thought about using the adjustment brush? You can use it for a variety of tasks such as brushing on (or off) color, creating shadows, or highlights or even adding contrast. ALso in the Basic Mode you can set white balance by just taking the eyedropper and clicking on an area that should be white and Lightroom will make the adjustment. You can also use the Radial Adjustment tool right next to the adjustment brush to change color, or highlights and shadows. Just something to think about.   Posted: 10/03/2018 14:37:06



 
Lots to think about! Thanks, Larry. I'll look into these options. I'm still a Lightroom Lightweight!   Posted: 10/03/2018 14:53:37
Larry Treadwell   Larry Treadwell
You might consider looking for a Scott Kelby book on Lightroom. His books are really easy to follow and he goes through things step by step.

As an alternative you might look at Youtube and find:
serge ramelli lightroom tutorials

I used some of these for my students when I teach photo editing. He will give you lots of ideas.   Posted: 10/03/2018 17:30:56



Larry Treadwell   Larry Treadwell
Hi Wayne
Bryce can be such a magical place to take photos that I've found it can be a bit over whelming. It looks like you found a very colorful location to catch a perfect memory of both your trip and the amazing location. As several others have said I feel the reds on the back ground mountains are a bit much. I've found that red can be a difficult color to work with as it seems they blow out quite easily. You said what captured you was the white layer in the rocks so I gave that some thought. I finally decided just to give it a try so here is my effort. Since you said you use Lightroom I confined my efforts to only that program.

I duplicated the image in Lightroom then darken one and set the white balance on the layer of white rocks. Then I merged the two images in Lightroom's HDR module. The process brought out the trees at the bottom and kept the reds in the rocks without blowing them out while keeping the white a more natural white. Because the file I had to work from was small I wasn't able to bring back the whites in the clouds. Maybe working with the original I could have. I adjusted clarity, and brought down the saturation of the foreground mountain just a bit.

In the end it is my interpretations---your thoughts?
  Posted: 10/04/2018 14:21:17
 
Larry - thanks for all of your help with this photo. I sent you a more detailed note by email and I plan to make use of the feedback from you, Barbara and Stephen to further processing of my Bryce Canyon expedition. I'm looking forward to the Nov round of postings!   Posted: 10/04/2018 14:54:41



Michael Weatherford   Michael Weatherford
Can't-miss subject and good composition. I agree with other comments that it's a bit over-colored. In LR you might consider bringing down the vibrance and in HSR selectively reduce the saturation on the reds (maybe, worth a try). For the whites, increase using the White slider in "Basic" until they start to blow out (be sure LR is set to show that), then back off a little. Just a couple of things to try. Overall a really nice photo!   Posted: 10/05/2018 11:15:37
 
Thanks for your tips!   Posted: 10/05/2018 13:25:10



Marti Buckely   Marti Buckely
(Groups 22 & 61)
I'm torn between the two images. I think the final is a little too over-saturated and the trees seem to me to be too "HDR-ish". I like the trees and foreground in the original and the details in the rocks (minus a little saturation) in the final. The sky definitely needed to be brought out which you did well in the final.   Posted: 10/25/2018 17:12:45



 
Hi Wayne,

Simply superb image! Really liked the post processing to bring out those strong colors of canyon & sky. I would have probably looked for a slightly higher elevation to reduce the tree size in the foreground if there was a chance to do so. That would have given more visibility to the canyon patterns complemented by the sky color.   Posted: 10/26/2018 05:12:37



Richard Matheny   Richard Matheny
Wayne this is a dream trip for this East Coast Guy. Had a trip planned this past year but a death in the family of my traveling partner canceled for this year. I can see the struggle you had with all the smoke but considering the circumstances. I think you done a great job on this image. Maybe a little strong on the colors but that' and easy fix. I have seen those images from some of our pro's that I would have considered unacceptable, this is not unacceptable, good job.   Posted: 10/26/2018 11:27:06