Laura Lee Bartholomew  


Bryce Sunrise by Laura Lee Bartholomew

November 2021 - Bryce Sunrise

About the Image(s)

I just took my first photography road trip after two years. Luckily, the sky gods extended some favors my way. This image was taken at the Bryce Point lookout early in the morning. My goal in taking this image was to recreate the beauty of the natural world as closely as possible to what I was actually viewing.
The image was taken on a tripod with a Nikon Z 7 using a Nikkor Z 24-70 mm f/4 lens.
The focal length was 25.5 mm. ISO was 100. I hand blended two images, one exposed for the sky, and the other exposed for the land. Exposure for the land was 1/10 sec. at f/8. Exposure for the sky was 1/40 of a sec at f/8.
Exposure and tonal adjustments were made to both images in LR. I stacked and blended them together in PS. Other adjustments included curves layers, tonal contrast, clarity, and noise reduction.
I have not done a great deal of hand blending. I usually combine images using the HDR feature in LR. By hand blending, I hoped to maintain clarity and accuracy of color and look as natural as possible. Did I succeed?


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




Jim Horn   Jim Horn
(Groups 5 & 15)
Laura, you did an exceptional job of blending the photographs. If you don't mind, send us the two originals so we an see what you worked with. Great sunrise. Glad you're back to "road trips" again. I like the vivid colors and sharp focus for these unique features in Bryce Canyon. Jim   Posted: 11/01/2021 14:38:12



Gaetan Manuel   Gaetan Manuel
(Groups 7 & 75)
I decreased the sharpness of the orange and white parts of the sky using the adjustment brush in lightroon (sharpness -65)and it seem that the sky is better.Gaetan   Posted: 11/15/2021 02:56:48



Albert Zabin   Albert Zabin
(Groups 47 & 53)
Beautifully done. Your skill doing this from taking the picture to preparing the final image is amazing. The composition bothers me a little. It feels to me that the sky and the foreground fight for my attention. There is so much detail in the foreground it overwhelms me. I think if you cropped about 40 % off the left It might have more impact.   Posted: 11/22/2021 21:36:28