Snow at Arches NP

[GB1]

Got lucky in December and hit Arches National Park when it was snowing.

Not a lot of contrast or shadows that day with everything clouded over. Does it matter that much?

Any post processing suggestions to produce more punch? I ran it through the standard filters/effects to see, have a feeling it will take some new technique that I don't know about.

G

[arne saknussen]

I do like this shot quite a bit. Very nice sharpness from front to back. I like the distant mound in soft focus, it makes the subject pop. But there is so much empty sky area, I think too much. Maybe a portrait view since there is a soft focus mound on the right.

[GB1]

arne - I see what you mean about the empty sky. Maybe as a background for a magazine or ad it would be OK, where they could fill in that space with text?

There's also something called Fitts' Law that says that people tend to scan an image or screen from top left to bottom right, in a diagonal. So inherently, one starts with a big blob of nothing, perhaps creating a feeling of loneliness here.

Anyway -- thanks again for your comment.

G

[maplestreet]

For this particular picture. I know it may sound stupid but it might have been better if the focus point was the big mountain in the middle ground. The focus being on the ground in front of the camera is nothing special and so it draws our eyes to nothing. If maybe it had been on the middle ground a little deeper in the field I think it might have given a more hazy "in the weather" feel to the shot.

That being said, it's still beautiful. The redrocks contrasted with the white snow is very beautiful.

[arne saknussen]

I did a crop of this on my iPad following my suggestion and it does not work as well as your shot. This would work as an ad for sure. Or maybe Photoshop some birds in the space?

[Anbesol]

I like the serenity of the shot, and the angle especially. I like how you filled the frame with the rocks and kept the snow detail all together. But I still think it felt a bit bland in contrast, but any curve or levels adjustment sort of killed the black or white detail. So, I used a gradient, black to transparent on a new layer, from bottom to midpt and top to midpt, then set blending type to soft light.

Another thing I think could help the shot would be to add just a tiny winy bit of a color (probably slightly warm) to the white of the sky. Not much at all, I didn't do that on this edit though.

[GB1]

Thanks for the comments.

Hey Maplestreet, that's an interesting idea actually. Note that the hyper focal pt made everything in focus, even the distant hill tops. I think to make that middle hill the focal pt that I would have had to compose out the foreground, but I wonder if it would be very due like that ... very soft, hazy, with no contrast is what I'm afraid of. Anyway, when you're at the spot, even if the weather isn't good, you gotta shoot (PJ said that in my other post - ducks swim, photographers photograph).

Arne - Birds eh... not a bad idea!

Anbesol, I totally agree that it's too flat. I like your slight edit ! Those gradients did a nice job in creating what seems to be an interesting density shift in the sky - makes it more aesthetic. I did play with the color and did try some warmth btw, but it looked 'processed' to me, as if I know what it was like that day, and that it certainly didn't have a warm color cast (it was ~ 30 F I think, and overcast).

Anyway, appreciate the feedback!

G