Flatop from Sharptop

[Sam W]

Close up of the trees:

[Shadowman]

Nice effort.

[Wavelength]

WOW; excellent pair of images

[Mike Buckley]

The second one is very striking because of the angle of the trees (I love diagonals!) and the interesting pattern of the brighter areas. In this type of image it's so often important to find a pattern even if it's a random pattern such as this one. Yet it's also so often difficult to do. Only better light would have improved this in my mind. The image has the look of having been taken from a distance using a long focal length, so I'm really surprised to see that yours was only 44mm.

The first image is a nice composition but it doesn't do much for me because of the relatively uninteresting light.

[bnnrcn]

+1 to Mike's comment

[Sam W]

The second one is very striking because of the angle of the trees (I love diagonals!) and the interesting pattern of the brighter areas. In this type of image it's so often important to find a pattern even if it's a random pattern such as this one. Yet it's also so often difficult to do. Only better light would have improved this in my mind. The image has the look of having been taken from a distance using a long focal length, so I'm really surprised to see that yours was only 44mm.

The first image is a nice composition but it doesn't do much for me because of the relatively uninteresting light.

Thanks Mike good tips to know. The shot of the trees was taken on Sharptop at about 4000' looking across a steep ravine. I had been experimenting with the diagonal placement...glad you found it appealing. Best regards, Sam

[rubyb]

The second shot is really super. Great choice for mono, love the Dutch tilt. Will look great printed BIG.

The second shot is a good example of our need of the simultaneous presence of good technique, a good subject, and good light.
You had two of three, but it just can't quite get to the "stunner" level.

[IzzieK]

I do not have a favourite here...both of them are equally good...the first for the overview and the second one for the coseup. Wonderful place to do a shoot.

[Sam W]

The second shot is really super. Great choice for mono, love the Dutch tilt. Will look great printed BIG.

The second shot is a good example of our need of the simultaneous presence of good technique, a good subject, and good light.
You had two of three, but it just can't quite get to the "stunner" level.

Thanks Ruby, but I'm not convinced the lighting was completely the fault but perhaps my post processing was a major contributor to the poor quality. I adjusted the green and yellow gray levels in the update below. Both were at zero in the original posting. I also used a smaller sharpening radius and in creased the exposure a tad. It's a hard image for me to adjust without eye strain in about 2 minutes. :-) Your C&C is appreciated, best regards. Sam

[Mike Buckley]

Sam,

The light would be more appealing if it was from one side of the trees. A shady part of the trees would help reveal their shape. The light is rather flat here and there really isn't anything you can do about that during post-processing.

[Sam W]

Sam,

The light would be more appealing if it was from one side of the trees. A shady part of the trees would help reveal their shape. The light is rather flat here and there really isn't anything you can do about that during post-processing.

Ah, now I get it! It was around noon in mid-November when I took the photo. There was some angle to the sun but apparently not enough. I think I will return to this spot some day later in that afternoon to see if I can improve upon the outcome. Best regards, Sam

[Clactonian]

Sam, I think you can get more out of image #1 with some subtle use of the 'clarity' slider in LR with maybe a touch more 'highlight' and deepening the shadows. I would also boost the saturation of the green, red and orange channels in HSL. The image then comes to life.
Just my two penneth for what it's worth.

Mike

[Sam W]

Sam, I think you can get more out of image #1 with some subtle use of the 'clarity' slider in LR with maybe a touch more 'highlight' and deepening the shadows. I would also boost the saturation of the green, red and orange channels in HSL. The image then comes to life.
Just my two penneth for what it's worth.

Mike

Mike, that incredible. I know I tried some those adjustments but somehow overlooked the significant improvements you suggest. I can only think that was working with 130 photos in my editing session that evening after all day of hiking. So that has taught me something too. Update below. Thanks for your comments. Best regards, Sam

[Clactonian]

Looking better Sam but I think you can push it even more. Depending on the way in which you have set up your Nikon the images can be a bit flat straight out of the camera. You can then really push them in LR to make the image pop. I tend to push to the limits then leave it for a day or so, then come back and re-edit invariably just toning it down a bit. Do you view your images with the 'lights out' (toggle 'L' on the keyboard) again I find this helps a lot.
One other question if I may. Why did you use f22? You will have long passed the point at which diffraction kicks in with the 24-120 which will degrade your image and you certainly wouldn't need such a small aperture if your intention was to have infinity focus. Increasing the aperture would have enabled faster shutter speed than 1/20 second. I'm just inquisitive.

Mike

[Sam W]

Looking better Sam but I think you can push it even more. Depending on the way in which you have set up your Nikon the images can be a bit flat straight out of the camera. You can then really push them in LR to make the image pop. I tend to push to the limits then leave it for a day or so, then come back and re-edit invariably just toning it down a bit. Do you view your images with the 'lights out' (toggle 'L' on the keyboard) again I find this helps a lot.
One other question if I may. Why did you use f22? You will have long passed the point at which diffraction kicks in with the 24-120 which will degrade your image and you certainly wouldn't need such a small aperture if your intention was to have infinity focus. Increasing the aperture would have enabled faster shutter speed than 1/20 second. I'm just inquisitive.

Mike

Hi Mike, thanks for your suggestions and I will certainly give them a try. I was not aware of the toggle 'L'. Thanks to this forum I am learning little tips everyday. I did push the saturation orange and green but there is a point where the results look too unnatural for what I was trying to achieve. So I settled with the above update. I will post another perhaps tomorrow as I try your suggestion to wait a day then re-edit. I was using F22 a lot that day because I was including rocks that were often only a few feet away...and I was too lazy to make an adjustment. I normally shoot in aperture priority mode. I was not too concerned about the shutter speed as I was able to rest the camera on a flat surface to take the shot avoiding camera shake. Also, I believe I read that using smaller apertures will result in sharper images. Would that be true in this case? I appreciate your comments. Best regards, Sam

[Mike Buckley]

Also, I believe I read that using smaller apertures will result in sharper images.

The sharpest images produced by a lens are generally produced using the mid range of aperture settings. A lot of people think of the sharpest area as about 2 stops down from the smallest aperture. There are lots of websites that indicate the sharpest aperture settings of a given lens.

When you stop down all the way, diffraction sets in. Personally, I think diffraction is overblown. For a terrific practical explanation of diffraction, see the CiC tutorial explaining it.

[Sam W]

The sharpest images produced by a lens are generally produced using the mid range of aperture settings. A lot of people think of the sharpest area as about 2 stops down from the smallest aperture. There are lots of websites that indicate the sharpest aperture settings of a given lens.

When you stop down all the way, diffraction sets in. Personally, I think diffraction is overblown. For a terrific practical explanation of diffraction, see the CiC tutorial explaining it.

Wow, great to know. Thanks a bunch and for pointing me to the tutorial. I think I've read it but like most tutorials they are good to review especially when you are working a related issue like my question on sharpest aperture. Best regards, Sam