Jay Joseph
April 2025 - Sedona
Original
About the Image(s)
I finally left Cleveland for a few days and traveled to Sedona, Arizona, a beautiful location in the United States. There were mountains everywhere. Sedona is at an elevation of 4300 feet (1310 meters). It was snowing when we arrived, which was not what I had expected in the desert, but it did warm up the next day with a cloudless sky. This photograph is one of the many mountains I photographed. I tried a sky replacement adding a few clouds, but it took away from the beauty of the actual sky (and my wife hated it). I tried to bring out the green in the trees and tone down the bright sunlight hitting the mountain in Lightroom. I used Topaz to sharpen and reduce noise in the image. Pentax K-1, f16. ISO 100, 37mm, 1/60 sec.
2 comments posted
A great image Jay with good use of the colours we would expect to see in Arizona. Some people might comment on the empty sky and suggest replacing it with another one with interesting clouds, but I'm not one of those. If you have a clear sky, that's fine by me. Others could also comment on your subject being in the center, but again, that's fine. I feel this type of scene would also work quite well in square format. In your original, we can see the moon in the sky, it's just a shame that it's not in your final image. Still a great image that inspires me to try and visit Arizona. Posted: 04/20/2025 22:55:20
This is one of those images that really does not need much processing. A slight crop, some extra contrast (and some spot removal!) and you are done. I like that the tree at the bottom anchors one of the corners of the talus slope and provides a slight offset to an otherwise central composition. The clear sky is fine, but if you want to add some clouds, I would use a very low opacity, so that the clouds are just a subtle texture on the blue sky. A fie picture of a fine location. Posted: 04/21/2025 08:48:43