First Snow on the Peak

[terrib]

Pike's Peak in Colorado got it's first snow last night. Here's 2 of my images.

These are both as composed in camera except for changing the aspect ratio to HD which was planned. This time, I was concentrating on the whole deal - not just exposure or composition as I've been doing in my most recent posts. So C&C is appreciated in all aspects. I do see that the focus is soft in the first one. I think I took that one handheld although I should have been able to hold at that speed.

Thanks! (I like them by the way... )

#1


#2

[rtbaum]

First one gets my vote, what I find appealing are the convergence of the lines formed grass, treeline, and snow kind of lead me through the entire image. My goodness....I can't believe that actually came outa my head!! What the heck it rocks!

[Sergio M.]

Terri, I too like the first one. Your exposure seems right on. You caught the sky, clouds,snow,trees, and grass. You don't seem to have any blown highlights either. Very well done.

Oh, by the way, I also really like the color of those trees in the foreground.

Serge

[Kathy O]

Pike's Peak in Colorado got it's first snow last night. Here's 2 of my images.

These are both as composed in camera except for changing the aspect ratio to HD which was planned. This time, I was concentrating on the whole deal - not just exposure or composition as I've been doing in my most recent posts. So C&C is appreciated in all aspects. I do see that the focus is soft in the first one. I think I took that one handheld although I should have been able to hold at that speed.

Thanks! (I like them by the way... )

#1


#2

Hey Terri,

We were just there last week, my how a week makes a difference. The color in the trees are beautiful and the snow . . . I love the snow!!!!! Beautiful photos, I am so jealous!!! In my opinion I like the second one better, love the trees and the mountain in the distance, I also like having more forground in the photo like your second one, it makes me feel like I am in the moment!! Very nice!!

Kathy

[terrib]

Thank you Randy, Serge and Kathy for your responses. I appreciate you all taking the time to view and compliment!

[kdoc856]

Terri,

Love these shots. How about a slight crop to emphasize both the aspens as foreground and mountains as background? The grass is nice but cant compare to the other elements for majesty

[Mike Buckley]

It's good to know that you like these images. You'd be crazy not to!

I don't see any softness that you mention in either image. Perhaps you can see something in your full-size image that we can't see in these small images. If so, I would be willing to bet that additional sharpening will take care of it. If there is softness, it might be that the wind was blowing the leaves really strongly; remember that the shutter speed has to take that into account, not just the focal length that you are shooting handheld.

I prefer your crop of the second image to Kevin's because the foreground allows the contour of the land and the curved line of the trees to show. It's those two elements that make the image more three dimensional, which explains why I prefer it to the first image. The weakest part of the second image is the plain blue sky (see below about that), and Kevin's crop makes that part of the image more prominent. All just my opinion.

A few post-processing ideas to consider to refine your very nice images:

1) Select the distant mountains (not the snow) where the blue cast is so prominent. Add warmth to that area using whatever method you prefer. If your software has a Warmth slider, that would probably be the easiest method.

2) Select the same area as in Step 1 but this time use the Curves tool to reduce the haze. Grab the center of the curve and slowly pull it toward the lower right corner until the haze is sufficiently reduced.

3) Select the snow and use the Curves tool. Create a really strong "S" curve to increase the contrast.

4) Look up how to apply Local Contrast Enhancement using your software. (It's a form of sharpening that arguably is actually not sharpening.) Select the trees and apply it to that area. IMPORTANT: Use it very judiciously, as it's very easy to overdo it.

5) If you have some other images taken at the same time, add some clouds from those images to the second image and perhaps to the right side of the first image.

See what you like (if anything) and go for it!

As a reminder, these are just potential refinements of two images that are already quite nice as is.

[terrib]

Terri,

Love these shots. How about a slight crop to emphasize both the aspens as foreground and mountains as background? The grass is nice but cant compare to the other elements for majesty

Thank you, Kevin, for your comments and ideas. I do like your crop too. I've got so many different views of this scene that I like that I'm not sure how I'll pick my favorite. I guess that's a good thing.

[terrib]

Thank you, Mike, once again for all your detailed help and comments. I also like the 2nd image the best because of the contour of the land. I appreciate your suggestions for PP. I will at some point give them a try. It's a delicate balance between how much time to spend learning PP and learning what to do in the field. It's all important!