the valley floor

[Tracy Lebenzon]

 

[Asher Kelman]

I hope we have a lot of discussion on this fine picture, look at the colors, the snow, animals and the mountains!

 

[Don Cohen]

A fine image - many elements to it, as Asher points out. I like the subtle hint of reddish/brown colors in the trees.

It might benefit from a tad more contrast, saturation.

What are the details - location, camera, lens, shooting specs, etc.?

Any particular aspects of the image which you would like comments on?

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi Tracy,

This is a fine image as Don said and I like it. I have one nit to pick though and it is about the white balance. I am somewhat bothered by the hue of the snow which is not neutral as would be expected. Was this a digital capture or film? Anyway don't mind my ramblings; the image stands nevertheless. thanks for sharing.

 

[Don Cohen]

Cem:

I actually had the same impression - many digital cameras auto white balance tend to make cloudy or shaded scenes on the 'cool' side, and that's what I see here. But then I thought, well this is in fact quite a 'cool' environment - so maybe that's appropriate!

As I continue to look, there might be a slight magenta cast as well, but I haven't played with it in Photoshop yet to verify.

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Cem:

I actually had the same impression - many digital cameras auto white balance tend to make cloudy or shaded scenes on the 'cool' side, and that's what I see here. But then I thought, well this is in fact quite a 'cool' environment - so maybe that's appropriate!

As I continue to look, there might be a slight magenta cast as well, but I haven't played with it in Photoshop yet to verify.

There is a magenta cast, agreed. Re. the WB, I think it is the other way around. The wb here iooks warmer to my eyes. But as I said, it is up to Tracy to decide what he likes regardless of my nitpicking.

 

[fahim mohammed]

Tracy, as others have mentioned; a very fine image. I like your vantage point. Maybe it is film; but

reminds me of the John Ford Westerns. The color and hues of the surrounds are particularly appealing.

The color cast in the snow is easily corrected.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Jerome Marot]

The fall colors in the trees are curiously enhanced by the chroma noise of the camera. Still: I would not have used ISO 3200, f/25 and 1/500s in that situation. Especially f/25, where diffraction will lower the quality of the otherwise excellent 17-70 f/2.8-4.5 Nikon lens.

The slight magenta color cast is an artifact of the high iso on the D80.

 

[Don Ferguson Jr.]

Tracy, I really like this composition overall and bet it would look great printed large .Not sure about WB but looking with photome it says ISO 1600
Don

 

[Tracy Lebenzon]

Hi,

Thanks so much for the kind words!

This was taken a little while ago near Mt Rainier and I agree that I wouldn’t set the exposure now as I did then. I spend a lot of time hiking the nearby woods and that’s why the iso was set to 1600. I also wanted a softer look and that’s why I went with the high f stop. If I had it to do again (and I might as the snow has just started in the area), I’d have my trusty tripod with me and use more of the tools in PS to condition the end result. Eliminating the graininess of the high iso image was an exercise onto itself.

I was and am inspired by the color treatment of a photographer named Tim Wolcott, who is an occasional contributor at another web site. His work often pushes subtle colors so they are less subtle and I have always enjoyed the impact this makes. This was one of my first experiments to push selected colors plus I also did some color replacements and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. But, my ham fisted approach here resulted in the color cast on the snow that you’ve kindly pointed out. Fortunately this is easily enough remedied, and I shall do so when I get some time to obsess over this image again, rather than focusing on the obsessions of my day job.

The lens used was my unbelievably reliable Sigma 17-70 mm f 2.8~4.5 macro which can focus alarmingly close and still works flawlessly despite being tortured for nearly every moment that it’s been bounced, rattled, and occasionally dropped.

And last but not least, no Elk were harmed in the making of this image. These creatures never cease to astound! They are largely indifferent to cold and wet, and their sense of sticking together is all important.

I’ll post the “after” pix once I get a chance to play with it a bit more.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Tracy,

I wonder how you might feel about removing 1cm of cloud from the top of the picture or else 3cm, or so, of snow from the bottom? I'd prefer the former choice, as, to me at least, the extra sky might not be needed, perhaps, for a strong composition.

Asher

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

First look I said to myself, neg film scanned on consumer scanner. Is that the kind of look you're going for?

 

[Bruce Sdunek]

Color aside (you can work on that), I like the composition. Great depth from the mountain tops to the valley with the deer (or what ever they are, don't look like Elk). That's the part I like.

 

[Tracy Lebenzon]

Tracy,

I wonder how you might feel about removing 1cm of cloud from the top of the picture or else 3cm, or so, of snow from the bottom? I'd prefer the former choice, as, to me at least, the extra sky might not be needed, perhaps, for a strong composition.

Asher

Either or? I'm happy with the top, and don’t like to clip things too tightly.

For the bottom, however, that’s exactly what I've done. It’s a common oversight for me. In this case, the ideal thing would have been to show enough of the immediate foreground snow bank, to show it all the way across the bottom of the image, so that it framed the foreground. I might play with that.

 

[Tracy Lebenzon]

First look I said to myself, neg film scanned on consumer scanner. Is that the kind of look you're going for?

Never tried that but anywho, I didn't have a particular goal in mind.

 

[Tracy Lebenzon]

Color aside (you can work on that), I like the composition. Great depth from the mountain tops to the valley with the deer (or what ever they are, don't look like Elk). That's the part I like.

Thanks! They are Elk.

 

[Tracy Lebenzon]

...after...

 

[Don Cohen]

I like the new version - much greater visual impact!

 

[Tracy Lebenzon]

Thank you very much.

Does the snow still have a red tint? I thought i re-set the wb in ps but it doesnt look like it here.

 

[Don Ferguson Jr.]

Thank you very much.

Does the snow still have a red tint? I thought i re-set the wb in ps but it doesnt look like it here.

Yep, on my calibrated monitor in FF 8 it does have it.
Don