Autumn Explosion

[maddogmurph]

So I'm kind of depressed right now. This time last year I was here. This place actually kind of ruined me. I haven't taken out my camera a whole lot since this trip. It's hard to justify searching for a good shot, when so much of a perfect shot seems to have to do with scene/setting. Then timing. And as always luck. Frankly this is good scene and setting, excellent timing, shitty luck. With a different sky this would possibly be amongst my favorite all time shots perhaps. But this sky although not lifeless, is kind of dry compared to what can happen here.

Critique welcome, always searching for ways to improve. This is a 7 shot stitch on the d850 with the 15mm zeiss. The warping was tricky, and the vastness of this scene is kind of lost with this edit.

-Md

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

If you are unhappy with the featureless sky, crop it out. In this case, about the top 1/5th to 1/4th of the image. That would pull the emphasis on the lovely foreground, the valley, and end up with the majestic mountain. Sky then would be just a framing device, not a center of attention. 

[maddogmurph]

If you are unhappy with the featureless sky, crop it out. In this case, about the top 1/5th to 1/4th of the image. That would pull the emphasis on the lovely foreground, the valley, and end up with the majestic mountain. Sky then would be just a framing device, not a center of attention.

Thank you Slobodan, always like hearing your perspective. Sometimes the answer is so simple but when I look at these things for a while I miss an obvious potential solution. I guess now the question I'm asking myself is whether I really don't like the sky. Obviously I'd like some color, I thought the lines were interesting, they show the wind. But it's so gray. The thing with gray however, is that it's not messing up color theory.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I like the sky as it is.
It draws attention to the gorgeous mountains without competing with them.
I find it quite refreshing to see a nice landscape that isn't just about a spectacular sky.

Very fine shot, IMHO.

[Rajan Parrikar]

It is a beautiful image. Slobodan’s suggestion is worth testing.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

It is a beautiful image. Slobodan’s suggestion is worth testing.

I could accept a slight crop as Slobodan suggested.

[maddogmurph]

Brandt helped me with the color, that was way off. Looks much better now. Thanks for that. Seems like any of these crops work really? Wondering if there's a clear winner... I don't see it.

[stevenfr]

Top one of the three in your last post

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Top one of the three in your last post

Definitely.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

The first one, though you cut off left and right sides unnecessarily, it seems. Me thinks.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

The first one, though you cut off left and right sides unnecessarily, it seems. Me thinks.

Me also thinks.

[RSL]

The first one is just fine. Don't crop. Don't remove the sky. Leave it alone.

[MattBurt]

I love the scene and it is a fine shot. I'm sure the right sky could make it better but I still like this one.
My only suggestion would be to have given the log in the foreground just a little more room. It just seems crowded on the edge of the frame.
I also agree the crop may be the answer to the sky but I really don't have a problem with the sky as originally framed either.

[John R]

I love the scene and it is a fine shot. I'm sure the right sky could make it better but I still like this one.
My only suggestion would be to have given the log in the foreground just a little more room. It just seems crowded on the edge of the frame.
I also agree the crop may be the answer to the sky but I really don't have a problem with the sky as originally framed either.

My thoughts, more or less, are the same.

JR

[langier]

Love this image!

I would agree that it needs a little less sky and a little more room below the log on the bottom. However, maybe the solution to the issue with the sky is to add some luminosity masking like what I did to it with the attached. If one thinks the sky is tweaked too much, it is easy to simply fade it back to one's heart's content since it's easily done with non-destructive layers.