Mary Frost  


Sunrise in The Rocky Mountains by Mary Frost

January 2021 - Sunrise in The Rocky Mountains

January 2021 - Mary Frost

Original

January 2021 - Mary Frost

Original 2

About the Image(s)

The attached image is the manually blended exposure from 2 original images. With the use of layers, I was able to add the sky and refection from the darker exposure to the enhanced brighter exposure. By doing this manually, I can keep control over the HDR effect. The images were taken at sunrise in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.


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




Bruce Benson   Bruce Benson
Mary, Your use of blending the two images with layers is a great one to avoid the problems of using HDR. You got some nice leading lines, and color. I might suggest cropping out the bushes at the bottom since you can still keep some of the stream and keep a good composition and they seem a bit distracting to my eye. Bruce   Posted: 01/02/2021 18:01:49



Mary Frost   Mary Frost
The reason I left them in was to enhance the 3D effect that a sharp foreground gave me. I can understand that your idea would also work.   Posted: 01/03/2021 11:05:00



 
I'm finding people have an "artificial" bad taste for HDR mainly due to processing Software 10 years old. Most of the modern HDR SW does a very good job and seldom do I have anyone realize it was HDR processed. What, I find, is most people think an overly sharp photo (Crispy) is an HDR result. That said this was a nice job of blending. I like how you brought out the color on the hillsides and I actually like the bushes at the bottom for the exact reason Mary mentioned... it provides more depth. The only thing I might try is to darken the "blue" of the sky as the brightness of it just above the landscape pulls my eyes away from more important aspects of the image.   Posted: 01/03/2021 12:03:18



 
Mary, I'm with Randy on this one. I have three different HDR software programs, and they all do a great job of blending images together. In this case, the sky is over exposed at the bottom. I would take one of the originals and reduce the exposure to bring the blue back to the sky then reblend them using hand or HDR software. I also like the close up grass. It is the best way to show the depth on landscape shots. Well done with all of the hand blending!   Posted: 01/04/2021 17:21:54
Mary Frost   Mary Frost
In order to have blue in the sky near the horizon, I had to process both images to change the white balance. I had chosen a warmer white balance which did not have blue in the sky. This new version is the result of blending the cooler versions of the original images. See what you think about the changes.   Posted: 01/04/2021 18:10:24



Mary Frost   Mary Frost
  Posted: 01/04/2021 18:24:31
Comment Image



Dr Isaac Vaisman   Dr Isaac Vaisman
Mary, as you can sense, every photographer has hers/his own point of view, but I think the essence is on "The beauty is on the eyes of the Beholder". I jus wonder if you indeed did a HDR process on the blending of your multiple images I am sure you have in your storage drive. I love the colors, specially the reflection on the water. The image is sharp. The bushes in the foreground do not really bother me.   Posted: 01/08/2021 07:05:58



Marie Costanza   Marie Costanza
Mary, I love the layers in this image and the way my eye follows the S through the image. Nicely composed!   Posted: 01/24/2021 12:14:25



Adrian Binney   Adrian Binney
Mary, I always love admiring at your landscapes!

My first reaction about the bottom grasses was that they catch the eye, but then I worked out that they add to the story of the landscape. This is the sort of scene that needs time to enjoy and thus a judge of one of the competition types having 5 seconds to declare his/her score may well get stuck in those grasses! You are very right though IMHO to keep them there.

I love the overall hue across the whole image - very believable - and of course the reflections in the stream. Your 2nd version is even better having toned down the bright sky a tad.

A lovely landscape!   Posted: 01/27/2021 10:42:35
Mary Frost   Mary Frost
Thanks for your comments. One of the joys I get from landscape photography is trying to remember how it inspired me and try to recreate that feeling in the final image   Posted: 01/27/2021 11:21:26