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04/28/2007 07:07:09 PM |
(copied from forum)
I'm going to steal  stdavidson's template and see how that goes:
Positives:
Interesting variety of texture and colors, including rocks, sand, cactuses (cacti?) and the far off dark rock/mountain thing. At least to me, it seems like an interesting place.
Technicals:
Compositionally, I feel like the dark rock should either be centered or at one of the rule of thirds positions, and likewise for the horizon-line (or maybe a slight rotation to the right would help). The dark rock definitely is the most interesting part of the composition, and I wish we could see more of it as it looms over the land -- it also contrasts nicely with the sky and other elements.
There's a decent amount of noise in the sky which is surprising considering your camera, ISO, etc. Maybe it is oversharpened? Likewise, the rocks and cacti seem noisy but not super sharp at the same time. Strange. Nothing super horrible, but the noisiness in the sky probably hurt your score.
Contrast is good, might have benefitted from some fill light (or narrowing the dark range) so the shadows aren't quite as extreme. But lets face it, you're going to get dark shadows at that time of day.
The Challenge:
Yes, it is a landscape. Seems to fit the challenge pretty well, although it classically landscapes are a little more broad and sweeping: your focusing on the rocky hill in front of the further mountain may have hurt you a little.
Suggestions:
I think the dark mountain in the background in the background makes a great subject, but maybe a different vantage point would help to really show its mass and highlight it a little better. Taking the picture in the morning or evening would have softened the shadows and added a bit too.
Beyond that, playing with curves might have reduced the 'high-noon' look to it, and definitely run a noise filter on the sky to clean it up a bit. Not a bad image at all, but it doesn't capture the imagination as much as you'd like for DPC success. |
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 Photographer found comment helpful. |
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04/28/2007 01:39:45 PM |
Okay ... I had great fun with this and think that I made your image better by my PP but that is all personal taste. I have already sent you the high res results of my tweaking and hope you like them. Here you can see what my edit of your image looks like in the same resolution as you submitted it in the first place. You have submitted here a 1.333:1 ratio image but sent me a 1.5 to 1 ratio image.
I maintained the 1.5:1 ratio because I thought it was better for this photo but cropped it so that the peak of the dark rock was at the LH Rule of Thirds line. I also noticed that it has some highlights leading lines going for it with this crop ... (accidental but I like it) and I cloned out the tiny branch up against said rock on the left to not distract from it.
I hope you like what I did.
Detailed description of editing to follow as soon as I type out my hand written notes.
  
Thank you SO much for letting me play with your capture ... :)
I dunno about anyone else ... but this image makes me jealous that I did not get a chance to scramble up here and YOU did.
OK here are my editing steps ...
-Cropped as described above
-Increase Dynamic Range using screen and multiply adjustment layers as per this tutorial //dpchallenge.com/tutorial.php?TUTORIAL_ID=20
-Noise reduction filter Strength 1, Reduce Color Noise 100
-Levels - Push midranges to 1.3
-Curves - Slight S-Curve to increase contrast
-Clone out distracting LH branch
-Resize back to 3072 X 2048 (for the one to email you)
-Resize to 720 X 480 (for here)
-Selective Color - Cyans and Blues +20 black
-Saturation +20
-USM 50% @2.0 pixels, 10 levels
... and here is the same image I edited above tone mapped a touch for EXTRA pop!
Message edited by author 2007-04-29 06:59:25. |
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04/27/2007 07:58:50 PM |
A STUNNING image IMO ... A little dynamic range and a tiny bit of cropping and I think this image would say HELLO! ... Can I play with it tomorrow?
Of course you could always send me a TAD better resolution via Greetmir@yahoo.com (under 8 meg) so I could really get into it.
I think the previous comments yawning about it would not be doing so if this image was cropped and PP'ed well. I would be proud to have this on my camera memory card.
I agree with daboardergirl ... there is a bit of noise in the sky but not bad and not unfixable ...
Message edited by author 2007-04-27 20:12:22. |
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04/27/2007 05:00:18 PM |
| I really like this photo but my immediate reaction is that I want to see more of the mountain but it is obscured. If it had not been than the mountain would have been the focal point of the photo. Now the foreground fights for attention with the background. Still it has a great feel to it. Good on you. |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
Comments Made During the Challenge  |
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04/23/2007 09:50:10 PM |
| I would say "nothing out of the ordinary" because shots like this are a dime a dozen. But, there's a texture to it that I really like. 7 |
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04/19/2007 01:15:00 PM |
| Looks like this may have been taken in Phoenix, Arizona USA in or near the Desert Botanical Gardens. May not be true but I am pretty sure this is the Sonoran Desert, a place near and dear to my heart. :) Like the cacti and rocks, but the main 'mountain' (Papago Peaks?) is insufficient to carry the whole composition. An additional element in the foreground would add considerable viewer interest to the composition. |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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04/18/2007 06:41:45 PM |
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04/18/2007 01:51:22 AM |
| Great colors...The sky seems a little splotchy on my monitor though. |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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