This image is a stitched panorama done in Lightroom. Shot with Canon EOS R with 50mm (1.4 USM) 1/160 at f / 11, ISO 200.
People think New England has the brightest foliage - as did I - until my son moved to Utah and proved me wrong. Taken in late October 2023, the Utah mountain ranges Wasatch and the Uintas were truly ablaze with color - as they are most years.
This image was taken in late afternoon from Wasatch State Park in Heber City, Utah. The mountain range is much more dramatic than what shows here, but I chose to focus primarily on the foliage, leaving the Wasatch range as the distant backdrop.
Since Lightroom doesn't offer top-to-bottom pano stitching, I turned the camera vertical and stitched with primary focus on the foliage, but wish I had sharper mountains. I thought f / 11 would do the trick, but I used several sharpening techniques to bring out more definition in the mountains, including Contrast, Texture, Shadows, and a touch of Dehaze.
Can anyone suggest options to achieve full focus front to back that might make the mountains sharper?
PS - I have a new 28-70 lens that may help add end to end sharpness but haven't been out to try it yet.
10 comments posted
Adi Ben-Senior
Beautiful panorama and perfect editing. Colors are great.
Posted: 03/09/2025 08:53:00
Grace Cohen
Thank you, Adi. Where I live - New England - we are known for our brilliantly bright fall foliage. The state is Utah in the west is not considered a place for viewing foliage, which I why I took this image - and many others - showing how bright and brilliant Utah's maple and aspen trees are during the fall. Folks in New England have a hard time believing this is a western scene. Posted: 03/20/2025 18:19:30
Michael Jack
Nicely done pano and well seen colors. Book ending the photo with red/orange leaves on both sides is a good choice. Shooting fall color in mid-day is a challenge because of contrast and loss of saturation but you seemed to have managed this well. Regarding your sharpness question, I presume you are familiar with hyperfocal distance, but it not this would have made a difference. Check out PhotoPills if you do not have it. It is an incredible app which among many other features gives the hyperfocal distance. Posted: 03/09/2025 12:17:48
Grace Cohen
Thank you for suggesting I check out PhotoPills for hyperfocal distance.
Posted: 03/20/2025 18:14:33
Larry Treadwell
The scene is certainly colorful. But as Michael noted shooting at midday is not the ideal time for shooting landscapes. Usually the fringes of the day work best. For me this is quite cluttered and perhaps you might consider that when the sky is empty cropping it to reduce the empty blank space. Posted: 03/11/2025 08:17:04
Grace Cohen
Thank you Larry for ALL of your feedback - Much appreciated! I re-cropped and added the updated image here and see that it does add more impact. While I'm traveling, it's hard to ignore a midday view I won't see again, but agree this would have been much more impactful with early or late-day light. Posted: 03/20/2025 18:10:32
Grace Cohen
Thank you Larry for ALL of your feedback - Much appreciated! I re-cropped and added the updated image here and see that it does add more impact. While I'm traveling, it's hard to ignore a midday view I won't see again, but agree this would have been much more impactful with early or late-day light. Posted: 03/20/2025 18:10:41
Barbara Gore
Hi Grace. Nicely done pano! The colors in this image are well-captured, but I'm sure they were even more stunning in person. Shooting landscapes when the sun is high in the sky can be challenging, as it often results in a lack of detail and visual depth. Using hyperlocal distance as Michael mentioned will give the sharpness from front to back. I agree with Larry about the sky. It might be worth considering if it adds enough to the scene to keep it in the frame. Posted: 03/12/2025 10:38:37
Grace Cohen
Thanks for your suggestions, Barbara - much appreciated! I hope to get back this coming fall to take advantage of the group's suggestions to improve my Utah landscapes. Posted: 03/20/2025 18:15:24
Gokulananda Nandan
I like the second version of this photo, Grace. Midday is a challenging time to capture fall colours. However, the colours have come out pretty good here. Thanks to your photo, I learned about photopills. I have to explore it too. Posted: 03/20/2025 23:55:44
