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Author Topic: Top of Spanish Hollow  (Read 1893 times)

Arlen

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Top of Spanish Hollow
« on: July 29, 2013, 08:16:44 pm »

I'm not sure how many members here may be familiar with Oregon, but Spanish Hollow is a short valley in the north central part of the state that climbs from the Columbia River to the plateau above. Having just driven up, I looked behind me and saw this scene. So of course I had to search around for a good spot to set up the tripod and shoot it. C&C welcomed.
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luxborealis

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Re: Top of Spanish Hollow
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2013, 09:36:12 pm »

A peaceful scene with lovely evening clouds. As the light is all "far away" in the background (and that's where a viewer's eye is always drawn - the light), try opening up the foreground by a stop or so to give the photograph more depth.
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Arlen

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Re: Top of Spanish Hollow
« Reply #2 on: August 05, 2013, 02:29:41 am »

Thanks for the feedback, Terry, and the good suggestion. The image that I posted above was an early version without much processing that my wife favored, so I decided to see what others thought of it. There are other versions that I prefer, where the exposure of the foreground is increased, and some mid-tone contrast is added to the clouds, which gives them more of the layered look that drew me to the scene in the first place. Maybe the foreground should be lightened a little more. Take a the look at the first one below and see what you think. The second one below is the same except that the brightness of the sunlit area has been considerably reduced so as not to draw the eye so strongly to that area. I'm still trying to decide between the versions. Any opinions would be appreciated.
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sdwilsonsct

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Re: Top of Spanish Hollow
« Reply #3 on: August 05, 2013, 09:25:56 am »

#3 for me, for the reasons you state. Also, more detail shines out in the sunny area.

Another possibility is take 1/3 off the top and off the left. That leaves plenty of sky for the story and more foreground action for interest. IMO.

Eric Myrvaagnes

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Re: Top of Spanish Hollow
« Reply #4 on: August 05, 2013, 10:10:15 am »

I vote for #2. There's plenty of foreground detail, and the sunny spot still grabs your attention. In #3 I think you have reduced the sunny spot too much, to my taste.
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-Eric Myrvaagnes (visit my website: http://myrvaagnes.com)

brandtb

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Re: Top of Spanish Hollow
« Reply #5 on: August 05, 2013, 02:37:42 pm »

All considerations of processing aside, I would crop off along the lines as Scott suggested and look at that first for awhile. There is so much in the frame that is non-subject (light/mtn) or doesn't support it, that it is almost another picture...and working on processing of that...only accentuates "the other picture" more. If there were a little more of the right side (if any) of the illuminated mtn. that might be good to include for review. I'll pm further /B
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Brandt Bolding
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churly

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Re: Top of Spanish Hollow
« Reply #6 on: August 05, 2013, 07:45:51 pm »

#2 for me.  I like the lively light.  I understand the cropping suggestions because the image feels a bit out of balance but I think the crop would leave the image static.  I've been back to this shot a couple of times and am always drawn to look into the distance and the shrouded hills.  Despite the common assertion, I think westerners can read an image right to left.
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Chuck Hurich

Arlen

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Re: Top of Spanish Hollow
« Reply #7 on: August 06, 2013, 10:41:32 pm »

I appreciate all the helpful feedback. Especially from Brandt, who went the extra mile and sent me a small jpeg to illustrate the cropping ideas he and Scott were talking about. I've been checking out all the suggestions that were made, and each of them has merit and a certain appeal.

But in the end of course I had to decide what treatment best tells the story that I had in mind with this image. That story centered around the striking sequence of layers of sky atop layers of land, so I decided I needed to keep all of the sky. In this (last?) version, I started with version 2 and slightly desaturated the green layer at bottom and cropped off about half of it, which to my eye brings the land layers more into balance. Finally, following one of Brandt's suggestions, I used Content Aware Scaling to add a small amount of space on the right side, thereby providing a little more breathing room between the sunlit area and the edge of the frame.

Thanks again for taking the time to get involved.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2013, 10:43:58 pm by Arlen »
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brandtb

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Re: Top of Spanish Hollow
« Reply #8 on: August 07, 2013, 04:49:16 pm »

Cheers Arlen...good luck on future work
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Brandt Bolding
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