Teton Rainshine

[Greg Norrell]

I usually don't take late afternoon landscape shots of the Tetons because of the strong backlighting. Friday I was in the park with a family reunion and the otherwise less than ideal weather produced some interesting light along Mormon Row, our last stop. The second shot obviously has blown highlights in the sky. I'm debating how much that bothers me since those bright areas were responsible for the light rays. Your input is welcome and appreciated.

[mike54]

Really gorgeous catch on that light Greg, well worth a couple o' K.

[wolfd]

Both awesome shots with those rays of sunlight, Greg.

[jjdog2]

Nice work Greg!

jj

[kenwae]

That first one is outstanding; the second is very good as well, but the more I look at it, the more the blown highlights bother me.

[Greg Norrell]

Thanks Mike, Wolf, Jim, and Ken.

Ken, I experimented some trying to recover blown highlights. They are so far gone that I could make the foreground black and still have 255's. I'm trying to blend in a touch of blue sky and reduce the sky contrast to see if that helps. HDR would have helped for this scene, but I was mainly focused on the group I was showing around.

[golfer]

Greg: I'm really new to this so please take my thought as a question, not a statement.
Neither photo looks natural to me, is that the look you were after? I understand the light was bad when you took the photos.
My first thought were they ere HDR processed.
In photo number 1 the light is from behind the building, yet you have really developed the side of the building facing you which I was thinking should be darker.
Is this the look you wanted? I have no qualification to make any kind of statement here, just asking questions.
By the way, I really enjoy your photography here it is erally wondreful.
Best wishes.

[Greg Norrell]

Originally Posted by golfer

Greg: I'm really new to this so please take my thought as a question, not a statement.
Neither photo looks natural to me, is that the look you were after? I understand the light was bad when you took the photos.
My first thought were they ere HDR processed.
In photo number 1 the light is from behind the building, yet you have really developed the side of the building facing you which I was thinking should be darker.
Is this the look you wanted? I have no qualification to make any kind of statement here, just asking questions.
By the way, I really enjoy your photography here it is erally wondreful.
Best wishes.

Thanks for your input Golfer, and any perspective is appreciated.

The second shot was a single shot exposure (as opposed to HDR). Since so much of the sky was blown, I did use several techniques for highlight recovery in the sky. That is probably responsible for any unnatural look. I had misgivings about trying to salvage something from that shot, but I like the light rays.

The first shot was a three shot HDR composite. When I infrequently do HDR, I usually use the settings that produce the most natural looking shot. I did add some warmth and compress this one more than I usually would. Without HDR, either the sky would be so blown that the mountains weren't discernible or the front of the barn would be very, very dark. You are completely correct regarding the effect of the directional lighting.

For what it's worth (since I recall you are now experimenting with landscape shooting), when I see a scene with dynamic range just outside the limits of the camera, I usually do an HDR and then overlay that shot with the middle exposure. Then I carefully erase the blown and too dark portions of the top layer allowing the HDR to just come through in those spots. I think this barn scene was beyond that treatment (although I may test that).

Thanks for your input. I am not personally fond of unnatural looking HDR and if I strayed too far in that direction, I'm glad to have it pointed out.

[golfer]

Greg; thanks for you help. I'm ceretainly not qualified to say if you strayed too far. You explanation was certainly a bigh help for me to understand what you did.
Yes, you are right, I'm attempting to begin some landscape shooting, if it would ever cool down here in Kansas. Gotta get ready for a trip to YNP.
Best wishes to you.

[mistermonday]

Beautiful scenery Greg, nice work!