Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Landscape & Nature Photography => Topic started by: toolnut on May 04, 2010, 01:53:28 am

Title: Mt. Assiniboine
Post by: toolnut on May 04, 2010, 01:53:28 am
We went on a family camping trip in the Canadian Rockies last summer. This early-morning shot of Mt. Assiniboine reflected in Lake Magog was one of my favorites from the trip.

Canon XSi, Canon EF-S 10-22mm, Singh Ray GND, B+W Kaeseman Circular Polarizer

Greg Phillips

[attachment=21832:Assiniboine.jpg]
Title: Mt. Assiniboine
Post by: Josh-H on May 04, 2010, 03:12:19 am
Quote from: toolnut
We went on a family camping trip in the Canadian Rockies last summer. This early-morning shot of Mt. Assiniboine reflected in Lake Magog was one of my favorites from the trip.

Canon XSi, Canon EF-S 10-22mm, Singh Ray GND, B+W Kaeseman Circular Polarizer

Greg Phillips

[attachment=21832:Assiniboine.jpg]

Nice Capture.

I know this isnt in the user critiques section - so tell me to sod off if you like  But..
I feel this shot would benefit a lot from some better processing. Its a bit flat and lifeless on my calibrated SpectraView monitor. It could definately use some clarity, saturation and curves work at a minimum. The raw (pardon the pun. you did shoot this raw right?) ingredients are here for a very good shot - it just needs more post work.
Title: Mt. Assiniboine
Post by: toolnut on May 04, 2010, 03:20:24 am
Quote from: Josh-H
Nice Capture.

I know this isnt in the user critiques section - so tell me to sod off if you like  But..
I feel this shot would benefit a lot from some better processing. Its a bit flat and lifeless on my calibrated SpectraView monitor. It could definately use some clarity, saturation and curves work at a minimum. The raw (pardon the pun. you did shoot this raw right?) ingredients are here for a very good shot - it just needs more post work.
Thanks for the feedback, Josh. My monitor is not calibrated, and I have a lot to learn about processing at this point. Where to start? Wish I could sit down with a few of you guys and have a session of instruction. This image is basically straight out of the camera. And yes, it is RAW. :-)
Title: Mt. Assiniboine
Post by: stamper on May 04, 2010, 03:26:57 am
Quote from: toolnut
Thanks for the feedback, Josh. My monitor is not calibrated, and I have a lot to learn about processing at this point. Where to start? Wish I could sit down with a few of you guys and have a session of instruction. This image is basically straight out of the camera. And yes, it is RAW. :-)

The potential is there. At the very least you have to set a highlight and a black point in the image. This will increase the contrast. The snow should be white and the shadows darker than they are. The mid tones should also have a boost.
Title: Mt. Assiniboine
Post by: Chairman Bill on May 04, 2010, 05:29:18 am
Greg,
I've taken the liberty of making some adjustments, just to give the photo a bit of a lift. Whaddya think? BTW, it works quite nicely as a B&W image.

[attachment=21833:Greg__s_photo.jpg]
Title: Mt. Assiniboine
Post by: francois on May 04, 2010, 05:34:54 am
Quote from: Josh-H
Nice Capture.

I know this isnt in the user critiques section - so tell me to sod off if you like  But..
I feel this shot would benefit a lot from some better processing. Its a bit flat and lifeless on my calibrated SpectraView monitor. It could definately use some clarity, saturation and curves work at a minimum. The raw (pardon the pun. you did shoot this raw right?) ingredients are here for a very good shot - it just needs more post work.
I agree with your comment. This image has the potential to sing but it needs better processing.
Title: Mt. Assiniboine
Post by: toolnut on May 07, 2010, 01:11:18 am
Quote from: Chairman Bill
Greg,
I've taken the liberty of making some adjustments, just to give the photo a bit of a lift. Whaddya think? BTW, it works quite nicely as a B&W image.

[attachment=21833:Greg__s_photo.jpg]

Wow! Definitely a lot more vibrant. I guess I still struggle with the issue of post-processing from a philosophical standpoint. For instance, the image definitely "sings" a lot more after your adjustments, but it looks nothing like the original scene. While my image doesn't have the same zip, it is very close to what I saw that morning - the warmth of first light on the mountains and a somewhat muted sky. I know that processing has always been a game of squeezing the utmost out of an image, whether in the darkroom or with Photoshop. I'm still wrestling with where I stand on the issue.

Thanks for your input and for taking the time to work with my image, Bill. It is a beautiful result.

Regards,

Greg
Title: Mt. Assiniboine
Post by: Lisa Nikodym on May 07, 2010, 12:48:31 pm
While Bill's "zingy" version is more consistent with current taste, I personally like the more subtle (and realistic) colors of your original version, though I think the whole thing can be brightened up a little.

I'm less than perfectly happy about the composition, however.   I'd suggest trying to crop some from the sides (more from the left than from the right) to make it square.  That gets rid of some of the more compoisitionally "dead" areas and focusses on the central peak more.

Lisa
Title: Mt. Assiniboine
Post by: mikev1 on May 13, 2010, 01:50:33 am
Quote from: toolnut
We went on a family camping trip in the Canadian Rockies last summer. This early-morning shot of Mt. Assiniboine reflected in Lake Magog was one of my favorites from the trip.

Canon XSi, Canon EF-S 10-22mm, Singh Ray GND, B+W Kaeseman Circular Polarizer

Greg Phillips

[attachment=21832:Assiniboine.jpg]


I really need to visti there.  It is on my stuff to do list.  Seeing that I live in Calgary, I should get on it.  Thanks for the image.
Title: Mt. Assiniboine
Post by: stamper on May 13, 2010, 04:59:15 am
Quote from: Lisa Nikodym
While Bill's "zingy" version is more consistent with current taste, I personally like the more subtle (and realistic) colors of your original version, though I think the whole thing can be brightened up a little.

I'm less than perfectly happy about the composition, however.   I'd suggest trying to crop some from the sides (more from the left than from the right) to make it square.  That gets rid of some of the more compoisitionally "dead" areas and focusses on the central peak more.

Lisa

Sometimes the focal area is best set in it's environmental surroundings such as this. It gives a sense of the area it is in. One of the definitions of landscape is

http://www.answers.com/topic/landscape (http://www.answers.com/topic/landscape)

See number 2 for a definition.