Sunrays

[bristolmono]

Took this 2 weeks ago while walking the dog. Obviously it is very brightly backlit making it difficult to handle the shadows. I still liked the overall effect.

[IMG]554A9107 sunrays by derek webber, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Manfred M]

Nice image dramatic with crepuscular rays; very effective shot. Definitely a high dynamic range scene

This is a scene where I would consider bracketing the shots to capture more of the texture in the shaded side and then either use automated software (HDRI or Exposure Fusion) or manual blending to bring out some more texture. If you shot in raw, try opening up the shadows to see what that does for you.

[xpatUSA]

A nice moment well-captured, considering.

[selig1656]

Tricky capture a lot of tones and shadows in this terrific picture.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured, not much in the shadows to be concerned with, this scene is more about the light anyway.

[xpatUSA]

Nicely captured, not much in the shadows to be concerned with, this scene is more about the light anyway.

Indeed, John, I found that the rays were brought out nicely just using Haze Reduction. But, having been recently advised that "Global adjustments are rarely enough", I won't be posting an example ...

[pschlute]

I like it.

[DanK]

I think this is a really nice image, but I think you could push it with some postprocessing. One thing I would do is burn the foreground at the left; it is bright and draws the eye away from the rays. As a first, crude, start, I did that, opened up the shadows a little, and then reimposed some of the contrast that this lost. Perhaps this would be a direction worth pursuing.

[bristolmono]

Thanks for the comments and tips especially Dan. You're image was definitely an improvement. It was taken in raw, I have worked on it but I am no expert.
Thanks again.
Derek.

[DanK]

Derek,

Some of the people on this forum have a lot of post-processing experience (as you will see, for example, in this thread, particularly Manfred's long post), and people here share their expertise, so don't hesitate to ask questions.

Dan

[Manfred M]

David - I think Dan is going to have me blush here...

We need to understand the difference in the target audience of software like Lightroom and Photoshop.

Lightroom was primarily developed for the retail photography industry (wedding and portrait photography) while Photoshop is more aimed at commercial photographers and graphic artists who are primarily working for corporate clients. Over times the lines have blurred somewhat, but Lightroom is primarily designed for speed and Photoshop for ultimate functionality. When I write of Lightroom, I am also thinking of the "Develop Module", which is functionally identical to Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), that is part of Photoshop.

Lightroom (and ACR) are great for both global and area adjustments. Photoshop excels in detail work. Improvements to Lightroom have primarily been in its ability to apply fast, but relatively rough local adjustments. At a high level, these are fine if you are looking at displaying the images on a screen (computer, tablet or phone) and generally when one makes reasonably small prints (8" x 10" / A4), but not so good at larger ones.

Unlike Dan, most of my work is done in Photoshop. I use software like ACR (I don't use Lightroom a lot) to do the raw conversion and some basic prep work and then move over to Photoshop. In general, I spend less than a minute doing global adjustments, the rest of my work is primarily dodging and burning in Photoshop (measured in minutes to hours). This is a practice I learned from a number of nationally / internationally known and respected photographers that I studied under or was mentored by.


Here is my work on your image. I spend a lot of time "calming" the image; lifting shadows and toning down highlights, both steps bring out the textures and subtleties in the image.

[Wavelength]

Thanking Mother Nature for blessing you with the opportunity to capture this wonderful image....

[MooreDynamic]

David - I think Dan is going to have me blush here...

l adjustments, the rest of my work is primarily dodging and burning in Photoshop (measured in minutes to hours). This is a practice I learned from a number of nationally / internationally known and respected photographers that I studied under or was mentored by.

Outstanding, I am working to find good photo opportunities using light rays, I need to improve my artistic photoshop ability and I can always add light rays in photoshop but nothing beats natural "rays"