Another epic sunrise where the colors kept on giving!
Shot at 18mm at 1/8th and .5 seconds, f/16 and ISO 500. This is a blend of two images, one exposed for the sky and the other for the foreground. I then blended them in Photoshop. I ran them both through denoise in LR, then adjusted each of them to the exposures It thought would look good blended. I increased the vibrance and decreased the saturation, as well as adjusted highlights and shadows. I adjusted the blue calibration a tiny bit as well. I then added masks for the mountains, ice center sun area and made some local adjustment including adding a touch of clarify and texture to the ice. Once Over in PS, I blended the two layers by adding a black mask to the sky layer and brushing in the sky (I used a luminosity mask to get a good line for the mountain sky-line).
6 comments posted
Neil Bellenie
Great picture, Dawn. The 2 exposures balance so naturally, even the sky's reflections look like one exposure.
The structures in the ice work with the angular mountains in a kind of fractal development.
Posted: 11/11/2024 01:42:16
Dawn Gulino
Thanks Neil! Posted: 11/17/2024 19:59:12
Paul Smith
Your detail in the icicles is so crisp. You are mastering the "blending" process. Were you standing on ice as this was taken? Really good image! Posted: 11/13/2024 16:42:12
Dawn Gulino
Hi Paul, yes, was on the ice for this shot, I wanted to capture all the great textures and amazing reflections, so ventured out. The water wasn't that deep, so was totally safe (temp was in the 40s). Posted: 11/17/2024 20:03:23
Ed O’Rourke
Two things stand out for me with this photo, the composition and the way the colors work together and highlight the image. And from a technical point of view I think you did a great job HDR blending of the two photos. The sharp focus and depth of field are, in my opinion, spot on and I agree with Paul regarding the detail you are showing. I think the contrasting colors work very well and the lines of the features in the ice draw my eye into the center of the image nicely.
I would like to see a bit more detail in the sky at the notch of the mountains and a bit more detail in the dark area along the shore. Considering the exposure range I can see how difficult that could be. Perhaps if you took a couple more images to combine in your HDR blending, but that is beyond my range of skills Posted: 11/17/2024 18:17:31
Dawn Gulino
Thanks Ed! I agree, the center sun light does need a bit more details. I kept going back and forth on lightening the shoreline so great to hear your perspective. Posted: 11/17/2024 20:07:51
