Armageddon ~ Yellowstone in Winter.

[Nigel Turner]

Have to ask how you got in there to shoot this?

Snow mobile or Ton-Ton?

Well if Kevin ever gets of his backside (said tongue in cheek of course) and puts up the article that I gave him back in early August you'd find the answer to all your questions! Wouldn't it be better than all the endless camera reviews of late?

But, to your original question then the answer is a snow bus, which on my workshops I hire for a full eight days.

EIGHT FULL DAYS.. 

[framah]

Rats!! I was really hoping for the Ton-ton!!

So.... how do we find all about your workshops into Yellowstone?


...orrr I can just do a Google for it, and THERE you are.

[luxborealis]

I guess I have a slightly different perspective... To me it's a great moment captured very well, but it appears over-processed. The contrast between snow and shadow, to me is artificially too great. You want the drama in the clouds of steam and mist, but I don't think that should extend into the foreground snow. This has less to do with realism than it has with believability. As it stands, the photo looks more like a video game backdrop than it does a photograph as the trumped up HDR-like look is not needed for this to be an amazing photograph. Let all the tones sing!

[Nigel Turner]

I guess I have a slightly different perspective... To me it's a great moment captured very well, but it appears over-processed. The contrast between snow and shadow, to me is artificially too great. You want the drama in the clouds of steam and mist, but I don't think that should extend into the foreground snow. This has less to do with realism than it has with believability. As it stands, the photo looks more like a video game backdrop than it does a photograph as the trumped up HDR-like look is not needed for this to be an amazing photograph. Let all the tones sing!

Hi Luxborealis,
Thanks for your feedback and I fully appreciate your view and opinion. However there hasn't been much done to this image except for a curve adjustment to map the tonal range and the a slight mid tone adjustment. The contrast that you are seeing in the snow between the foreground and middle distance is due to the fact that the near snow had light falling onto it and the further you go into the scene the less light due to the heavy dark cloud directly above. The subject is also backlit. Yellowstone is a very atmospheric place to shoot during the winter and more often than not, even when one is their in person it is hard to believe just how good it gets.  I call it 'Armageddon' for a reason!

Thanks,
Nigel.

[Isaac]

The contrast between snow and shadow, to me is artificially too great. You want the drama in the clouds of steam and mist, but I don't think that should extend into the foreground snow. This has less to do with realism than it has with believability.

I was lucky enough to be in Yellowstone at the end of last year. With storm clouds partially covering blue-bird sky, dazzling sun on snow, forest shade, low sunlight on steam and mist, and specular highlights against shadowed boulders in the river cascades (all in the same photo) -- there's been no need to "artificially" increase contrast. However, to me they are B&W images and I think high contrast works better in B&W.

[luxborealis]

Hi Nigel,

I'm a winter snow photographer and the deep shadows in the foreground snow just came across as being much too deep, especially when there is so much light bouncing around. It's actually quite difficult to get shadows that dark in white snow without manipulation. Curves do a lot more to a much larger tonal area than people often realize, so a "curve adjustment to map the tonal range" could mean almost anything and could easily have dropped the tonal values of the snow in shadow further than expected.

Just an observation from a winter-harder northerner.

[Nigel Turner]

I was lucky enough to be in Yellowstone at the end of last year. With storm clouds partially covering blue-bird sky, dazzling sun on snow, forest shade, low sunlight on steam and mist, and specular highlights against shadowed boulders in the river cascades (all in the same photo) -- there's been no need to "artificially" increase contrast. However, to me they are B&W images and I think high contrast works better in B&W.

I have to agree with you with regards B&W... many of these do work extremely well in that medium however they can under the right circumstances work well in color, and of course that was my intentions with this image.

[stamper]

From an artistic perspective the image works really well. There are plenty of realistic snow scenes to be seen on the web. This one is a little different and I wouldn't change anything.

[Isaac]

There are plenty of realistic snow scenes to be seen on the web.

Realistic wasn't the point:

This has less to do with realism than it has with believability.

As much as anything, I think it's a comment about craft. Several of my Yellowstone photographs were put-to-one-side just because I didn't know how I could work with the contrast, and now almost a year later I'm starting to look at them again with more understanding.