Moon over Death Valley

[James Clark]

Seems a lot of us have been out that way this spring - here's the first of a several I'm just getting back to after letting them rattle around for awhile.

[TomFrerichs]

I enjoyed looking at you photograph, although to be honest I am going to have to look at it again later when I have a decent monitor.  To say that my work monitor is color managed is a bit like saying Attila the Hun was a specialist in urban renewal.

The placement of the moon, in particular, was very pleasing.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

...To say that my work monitor is color managed is a bit like saying Attila the Hun was a specialist in urban renewal.

Your monitor is ok... it's a b&w photo   

[TomFrerichs]

Your monitor is ok... it's a b&w photo   

It's not only the color, it's the contrast.    And something funky about the color management, too. 

Spreadsheets are fine, e-mail is fine, but whenever I display almost any image it ends up looking like one of those prints people talk about when they say "I have calibrated but my prints turn out too dark!".

I've tweaked the screen controls as much as I can...on all four screens...but even so good work still looks miserable.  So, I'll wait until I get home to really look at things.

Tom Frerichs

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

James, I believe the processing choices give too much prominence to the mountains. Going for the b&w doesn't add much either, on the contrary. This type of image is quintessentially a color domain.

[Chairman Bill]

Looks pretty good, but the mountains should be a bit darker. B&W is fine though

[James Clark]

James, I believe the processing choices give too much prominence to the mountains. Going for the b&w doesn't add much either, on the contrary. This type of image is quintessentially a color domain.

Thanks - there's certainly a case to be made.  The color image is a pretty punchy orange/blue contrast.  I can't post that image now, but I'll try and put it up tomorrow for opinions

[James Clark]

Looks pretty good, but the mountains should be a bit darker. B&W is fine though

As above, I'll need to go back to the color primary image and look, but IIRC the brightness of the rock and sky were similar and this is how I differentiated them in post, but it seems that regardless of color/bw, folks are seeing an unnatural tonal issue.   

[James Clark]

Here's the color version.. I just don't love it.  If I was sticking with color I think I prefer compositions that highlight the rock detail and offset that with the moon and the negative sky space (with the color contrast).

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

The BW one works for me. I can see why the color one is problematic.

[BobDavid]

I think this image is a perfect candidate for adjusting in LAB. The book, Photoshop LAB Color, by Dan Margulis is the best primer on the subject.

[James Clark]

I think this image is a perfect candidate for adjusting in LAB. The book, Photoshop LAB Color, by Dan Margulis is the best primer on the subject.

Thanks. I've never used that technique before, but will definitely check it out.