Green River Overlook

Here is a shot from the Green River Overlook in the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park. The light was a little flat, but still it was changing rapidly as the clouds whipped across the sky. Canon 5D, Tripod MLU.

Nathaniel Alpert said:

Here is a shot from the Green River Overlook in the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park. The light was a little flat, but still it was changing rapidly as the clouds whipped across the sky. Canon 5D, Tripod MLU.

Click to expand...

Hi Nathaniel,

I like the scene you have photgraphed. It's a huge challenge to photograph in flat light. OTH it gives another "look" which is perhaps interesting by turning expectation on its head! People will look at your photograph differently and get a new set of reactions perhaps.

I am tempted to work on such pictures by emphasizing the dimensionality with stonger horizontal lines, the black base branch and the clouds. That tree shadow alone is something I really love to find.

However, that would be a new mood. Right now, I'm enjoying your photograph as it is!

Did you take more in this shoot? How large will it print since you have taken the care to use trpod and MLU?

Thanks for sharing.

Nathaniel Alpert said:

Here is a shot from the Green River Overlook in the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park. The light was a little flat, but still it was changing rapidly as the clouds whipped across the sky. Canon 5D, Tripod MLU.

Click to expand...

Asher,

Thanks for your comments, as usual. I made a lot of shots in this area and many of this scene itself. Unfortunately, it was getting on to mid morning and the lighting is OK but not great. The variants of this location are subtley different, with differing shadow patterns in the distance as result of the cloud movements. It prints nicely, up to 12 x 18", the limit of my Epson 2200. I think it could easily go to 16 x 20. On the other hand, there is a certain softness, probably arising from the selection of a distant focus point. I particularly find getting really good depth of field, with crisp sharpness at the points of interest to be a challenge in shots like this, particularly in big enlargemetns. I know about hyperfocal distance, circles of confusion and f-stops, blah, blah, blah. But even with great care, wide angle and f11, I am sometimes disappointed. Specific advice on this topic would be welcome.

Hi Nathaniel,

I don't think there's much of an issue of sharpeness here. However, focus plus exposure combine Since you are already set up with a trpod and the picture is essentially 3 zones, foreground plus the tree, midground then sky you can improve things perhaps by 3 shots.

I'd then optimize each shot for it's content and select with feather (use same selection or its inverse) for each shot. After that combine the parts each on its own layer. Then add a percentage of each layer to the unchange first layer (the foreground.)

Asher