Comments welcome

[Tom Rankin]

This picture ...

was taken in the Catskills, Mark probably knows where!

Comments are welcome.

 

[kmorgan]

Nice. Looks like the view from Balsam Mountain summit.

Kevin

 

[NewHampshire]

It is a little confining with all the trees around it. Plus the dark upper and side branches make for an odd contrast to the bright lower front bush. I had to do some massive Shadow/Highlight adjustments (so it is going to be awfully contrasty and I think I see some haloing but not too bad.) Also did my usual 25% saturation bump.

Overall not too bad considering what you had to work with, keep up the good work!

Here is the results of my toying:

Brian

 

[Mark Schaefer]

This scene is typical of warm summertime haze in the Catskills. A polarizing filter might have helped to reduce the haze a bit and tone down a few white foliage highlights on the right of the picture. The bright foliage highlights are not really that distracting, so perhaps you were using a polarizer.

I do like the framing. I agree with Brian that it is a bit dark. So I think the adjustments improve the photo, especially the brightening of the dark frame. The camera focus appears to be more on the foreground and the distant view is a bit soft, but perhaps that is just the haze. The focus on the foreground would be entirely justified if there was a strong subject, such as a person looking into the view. That might also have given the photo more interest. But overall I think it is a good summertime scenery photo of the Catskills.

I think Kevin has the Balsam Mt location correct. The curve of the Esopus and Route 28 is in the center with the Devil's Path mountains (Westkill through Indian Head) on the far horizon.

 

[kmorgan]

<snip>
I think Kevin has the Balsam Mt location correct. The curve of the Esopus and Route 28 is in the center with the Devil's Path mountains (Westkill through Indian Head) on the far horizon.

I cheated and saw the file name of the picture.

Kevin

 

[kmorgan]

It is a little confining with all the trees around it. Plus the dark upper and side branches make for an odd contrast to the bright lower front bush. I had to do some massive Shadow/Highlight adjustments (so it is going to be awfully contrasty and I think I see some haloing but not too bad.) Also did my usual 25% saturation bump.

Brian

Hmm. I lightened it up with s/h, used 10% more saturation in LAB mode (30% total) but still prefer it with more contrast:

Kevin

 

[Tom Rankin]

Thanks everyone. Yes, it is Balsam, and yes it was hazy. I didn't fiddle with it too much. I guess I like Kevin's (first one) retouch the best.

 

[ALGonquin Bob]

Imo

Nice scenic with classic framing, but no strong center of interest. The follow-up images are over manipulated with artificial-looking colors, but the contrast is improved.

 

[ALGonquin Bob]

Too harsh?

 

[Grumpy]

Too harsh?

No. But quite blunt.

I think your observations are legit.

To be fair, though, this is a most difficult kind of subject. Scenes like this one are wonderful as real life experiences. But really great photos of them that ascend to the level of "art" are rare.

Nonetheless, photos like this do have documentary value, and belong in the collections of those who record their hiking experiences with a camera.

G.

 

[ALGonquin Bob]

As a camera club judge for many (many) years, I know that there can be immense emotional value to the photographer that simply is not conveyed in a 2-dimensional image. With the ease of computer enhancement comes the temptation to more than just tweak an image, resulting in bright colors that seem all right at first glance, but that are quite unreal in relation to what we know is natural. "It's how I remember the scene" is a common excuse, but that's not always how others see it. Some photographs are great documentary images of a scene, but are not great compositions. The originality of an image is just as important as the technical quality. That said, I don't think you'll see me putting up any of my own images for comments such as mine!

 

[DougPaul]

Too harsh?

Not in my opinion. I agree with you.

And IMO, many are inclined to overprocess images and the result often looks fake. Just because one can doesn't mean that one should.

If you haven't guessed, I tend toward realism in my photography...

Doug