Grand Canyon

[GB1]

I have no idea if there's anything here with this one............

[amorton1437]

Wow. I'm. Jealous. I wish I could go there. This is pretty breathtaking to me. I have no critiques to offer. Just green with envy.

[hminx]

Nope, Nothing there GB, just a big hole in the ground.....
But seriously, did you add grain to this ?, if so it seems to be masking some of the texture on the canyon walls . Still a nice portrayal of a great scene.
ps What was the colour version like ?

[armando_m]

beautiful ! great point of view and awesome cloudy sky

I agree with hmnix there is something odd ...
the foreground seems very sharp, and then it looses IQ, way more than I expect as things get far away, was it foggy ?

[Pose]

I really like the sky here. I actually find the foreground pretty uninteresting compared to the rest of the picture.

[Greg McCary]

Well, I love the distant mountains, very nice. I think the middle section has to many mid-tones and the right side mountain needs a slight contrast increase. Try layering it and then using the eraser tool and drop the opacity or at least some burning here and there. Looks to digital right now. Almost like all you did was desaturate it. I also seem to see some curvature in this one?

[NKP68]

I also envy your ability to see the Grand Canyon first hand. Good looking sky, Nice varying cloud structure. Not that much interest with the lack of contrast between the walls.
It all seems to blend together.
I too would like to see the color image.
I'd like to see more of your trip.
Ed

[PhilF]

I would love to see this in color

[PrevailingConditions]

GB, you have a great location here. I also like the different layers of the mountains going off into the distance. Unfortunately, I also think this suffers from the classic HDR flatness where there's not enough difference in tonalities. I would probably do a little dodging and burning to lighten the closest mountains and darken the furthest to enhance the depth. I'd probably also bump up the midtone contrast. My $0.02.

PC

[GB1]

Thanks everyone. Yep, this is an HDR (5 images) that was converted to black and white, but with a bit of an effect. It looked fairly flat on the color one also, and I will post that one tonight (I meant to last night).

Pete, the latest version of Photomatix has a B&W effect setting that I selected with I believe adds that grainy look. I did modify it a bit afterward though (I hate things right out of the tube). The lighting wasn't super exciting, part of the reason I converted to B&W. Will post the color one later.

Armando, it didn't seem to be foggy, but it was cloudy and maybe that somehow affected visibility. I will check at home but I'm pretty sure I used a sufficiently deep aperture to get it all sharp. The wind was blowing which could have affected the camera stability, and that may have affected the HDR sharpness if the images were slightly different. Also, it was cold as hell, and that could have affected the lens surface (???) though that was more of an issue later in the snow.

Pose, I agree, the foreground just doesn't have much Too bad I didn't have a model standing on that little rocky area on the left foreground looking out in the yonder, would have been a great shot.

Greg, thanks and I will consider doing some fancy editing as you suggest. Nope, I didn't just desaturate. It has an effect on it that I think increases contrast and makes it look more 'old west' or whatever (I'd like to know what Photomatix's settings are on that one). Yeah, there maybe curvature Keep me in line on that .. I need to be more aware of it, a NY's resolution ............

Ed, I agree, the tones do blend together here. I will post the middle non-HDR shot too.

PC - thanks and I will try your advice. Yep it's an HDR. I already did play with the middle tones, but maybe I can do some other stunts on this one. I was not super happy with the lighting that morning but I guess that's what PP is for.

Thanks too amorton and Phil.

[LeeIs]

Makes me want to be there!!

I like it. maybe a tiny bit more contrast.

Well done.

[jreimers]

While some of the tones seem a bit flat...I absolutely love the depth and feel of this photo. My personal preference is black & white photography. This is truly an amazing shot.

[GB1]

Thanks guys. I've been meaning to post the middle exposure non-HDR color shot, and the color HDR. The gallery's been mostly down this weekend, so I just posted the 1000 px images to my web site. I still prefer the b&w myself.

Armando, seems like when I up the contrast detail starts dropping out. You can play with it yourself and see if you can make it work. Gracias.

G



This is the non HDR.


Here's the HDR.