Snake River and Tetons

[Teton Chuck]

I finally got out this morning to take a few pictures. The sky wasn't what I hoped for but the scenery was fine.
I was looking for grizzly bears but settled for this. Maybe tomorrow.
Click on the photo to expand.

[Donald]

Thank you Chuck. Another joy to see.

Did you use any GND on this? I wondered if the exposure on the upper part could maybe come down just a little bit?

I think the composition is glorious. I think you've got the 'horizon' (water/land line) placed in just the perfect place. Seeing such an expanse of the river gives the image, for me, scale and depth.

[Teton Chuck]

Thank you Donald. Your comments are helpful and appreciated. What is GND. I may have used some without knowing it.

I try very hard to take my images in a way that requires the minimum amount of post processing. However the morning shots of the mountains nearly always leave me with a decision of using a graduated filter when I take the shot or applying one afterward. Here is another version with a bit more added with the filter. Is this what you had in mind?

[Donald]

Is this what you had in mind?

Bullseye!

GND = Graduated Neutral Density. Just exactly what you referred to.

That is now, I think, beautiful.

[Teton Chuck]

Thank you Donald. It was a lovely spot to spend some time this morning. Only problem was the 10F temperature. That shortened my stay.

[zen]

Hi Chuck,

I do not disagree with Donald at all. The second image is a bit better. However, I've seen that very scene myself on a number of occasions, and know how much of a glare there can be when the bright sun washes over new fallen snow on the slopes. Getting such a shot as this is, indeed, excellent work.

Good for you.

Zen

[Harpo]

Great 2nd image Chuck. Usually a GND does the job better than the post processing program. In this case, I wonder because the mountains might be half covered with the ND filter. Anyone care to comment on that?

[Teton Chuck]

Thanks Zen and Mike. Perhaps I should invest in some GND's. I could actually use some guidance for purchasing.

[Kathy O]

I finally got out this morning to take a few pictures. The sky wasn't what I hoped for but the scenery was fine.
I was looking for grizzly bears but settled for this. Maybe tomorrow.
Click on the photo to expand.

Please Chuck tell me that you did not just use the word FINE when looking at this photo and the scenery surrounding you!!! I would die to have this scenery to take photos everyday . . . Just messing with you!! I think the photo is beautiful and I am very jealous!!

Kathy

[jeeperman]

Ooooh....purdy.... Nicely done Chuck.

[Teton Chuck]

Thank you Kathy. I am very lucky to live here and try to take advantage of that. Given that, I hope to get another chance at this photo with better cloud conditions earlier in the morning. Some folks are never satisfied. I want to come to Nebraska next year for the crane migration. I understand it is a wildlife wonder.

[Teton Chuck]

Thanks Paul. Nothing like an Ooooo to make a person feel good.

[Kathy O]

Thank you Kathy. I am very lucky to live here and try to take advantage of that. Given that, I hope to get another chance at this photo with better cloud conditions earlier in the morning. Some folks are never satisfied. I want to come to Nebraska next year for the crane migration. I understand it is a wildlife wonder.

It really is a wildlife wonder! I do understand what you are saying about your photo . . .

Kathy

[dje]

That's a very nice scene Chuck, well captured. I would have been happy to settle for this over grizzly bears too ! Not sure about the 10 degF though.

Was this a stitched panorama or just heavily cropped top and bottom ?

As far as a GND is concerned, I'm not sure that an optical GND filter would have helped a lot in this particular situation because if I'm not mistaken the whole scene is fairly well lit. The optical GND comes into it's own where there is a big variation in brightness between the sky and the foreground (typically where the sun is rising or setting directly behind the foreground).

I suspect in this case, software manipulation of the sky brightness is the way to go. Mike's point about the uneven horizon is also relevant. A GND (either optical or in software) basically gives a straight line transition (albeit graduated).

Dave

[Teton Chuck]

Thanks Dave, most of the time I am making this kind of photograph at sun up. Then the contrast between the foreground and the mountains is fairly extreme. I thing you are right about when to use the filters. I have a friend who has a full set of filters. I think I will see if he will rent them to me for a few days. A trial run. Thanks again for taking time to help me.

[terrib]

Beautiful scene, beautifully captured! I do like the colors of the edit you did the best.

[Teton Chuck]

Thank you Terri. It felt good just to be out.