I captured this image in early December of the Blanco River flowing through the Blanco State Park in the Texas Hill Country. Unlike other parts of the country, we don’t enjoy spectacular fall colors. These colors are about as good as they get in our neck of the woods. On this cloudy, overcast day, I used a Canon 7D and a 24-105mm lens at 42mm, ISO 1000 (bumped up to compensate for the cloudy sky), F/10 at 1/200 second. This turned out to present me with the perfect opportunity to practice using Lightroom’s new masking tool and color range mask. I have photographer Michael Fry’s tutorials on Lightroom, and was going back and forth between his instructions and applying them to my own image. Besides cropping, I slightly darkened the bright water in the foreground, enhanced the color of the orange leaves and brightened the bank of trees along the shore in the far background. Unfortunately, I wasn’t blessed with a bright blue sky and I’m not one to swap out an overcast sky with a blue sky. I work with what I’ve got to work with!
4 comments posted
Jerry Biddlecom
It's probably better that you didn't have a bright sky in that the contrast between light and dark might've been too much. As it is, nature has provided you with a nice soft box effect. Leading lines formed by the river and the river bank following along, and the tree line jutting out from the left, adds to the sense of the water moving around the bend, even though it is actually static. It would've added to the composition if somebody (a kayaker, for example) was up near where the river starts to disappear around the corner. Posted: 01/16/2025 16:38:10
Joseph J Zaia
Naturally Mike, you captured what you could with what you had. The scene leads our eye from foreground to background, but when we get there there is nothing and darkness. Perhaps, as Jerry suggests, you could superimpose a kayaker very easily or even superimpose a peaking sun just over the trees, but be sure it has a long reflecting line onto the water... In any case, you should be able to add a little color and brightening the back just a bit inPhotoshop.
For capturing Fall Foliage, an Enhensing filter can bring out the colors or even a polorizing filter can help a great deal, provided the sun is out and you are in the right angle. Posted: 01/17/2025 20:42:46
Marti Buckely
I like the composition with the river bending around. There should be a way in LR to enhance the colors in the trees more. I'm not seeing much of a difference between the final and the original. Posted: 01/19/2025 17:28:41
Peggy Reeder
I agree with Marti. Not much difference between original and final. I would try increasing the contrast and clarity both, and well as setting medium contrast on the tone curve. Not much you can do with the sky though. This is very typical fall color in Texas. It's subtle. Posted: 01/19/2025 18:58:10
