Dawn Gulino
July 2025 - Hvítserkur Rock
About the Image(s)
This is a HDR shot at 26mm of five exposures all at f/18, ISO 64. 1.3, 3.3, 4, 13, and 30 seconds.
This was a sunrise shot with the sun teasing us that it would light up the low lying clouds (it never did). This was about an hour or so after sunset teased us with the same.
I made only a few global adjustments to the white and vibrance, then I created a bunch of different local masks, focusing on the rock, sunburst, and foreground. Once I was happy there, I moved it over to Photoshop where I duplicated the layer and enhanced the shadows in the reflection, added a photo filter layer to warm the sun a bit more, and added a mid tone luminosity mask to increase the midtowns a bit.
8 comments posted
Bob Gray
Beautiful, but the sharpness of the rock contrasts with the softness of the rest of the shot and makes it look as though you superimposed the rock on a different landscape. Maybe soften the features of the rock? Posted: 07/02/2025 16:17:55
Dawn Gulino
Thanks Bob and interesting observation about the rock! I'll make a pass at redoing and add. I wonder if it's just a bit too much contrast on it... thinking. :D Thanks! Posted: 07/02/2025 19:52:13
Dawn
I agree with Bob on the rock it doesn't fit in the image.
Great processing on the image. Posted: 07/08/2025 05:28:33
I agree with Bob on the rock it doesn't fit in the image.
Great processing on the image. Posted: 07/08/2025 05:28:33
I love the harshness of the rock versus the soft water and it can work. But I would suggest a slightly different crop to make the foreground a bit smaller and get rid of the sun out of the image. See attach my suggestion Posted: 07/13/2025 15:20:10
Dawn Gulino
Oh, I like that crop, it's a totally different look. Thanks for the suggestion! Posted: 07/24/2025 02:02:48
I like Francois' edit that pulls the rock closer to muffle the rest of the scene. Posted: 07/18/2025 14:15:27
Impressive image. I like how you captured the dominance of the rock in the scene and I especially like how you included the reflection of the rock in the water. Technically I think the photo is VERY good and I appreciate the steps you have taken in post processing (you skill level on that score is way above mine).
I agree with Francois's cropping in the horizontal directions as I thing removing the sun allows the rock to stand out more, but for the vertical direction I would have left it alone as I like seeing the full reflection in the water. Posted: 07/22/2025 18:26:41
I agree with Francois's cropping in the horizontal directions as I thing removing the sun allows the rock to stand out more, but for the vertical direction I would have left it alone as I like seeing the full reflection in the water. Posted: 07/22/2025 18:26:41
Dawn Gulino
Thanks Ed. Let me try a vertical of this to see how it looks! Posted: 07/24/2025 02:03:33