Landscape The Road

sminnyme · 10-31-2010, 12:44 PM

Took this photo drining from Jasper to Lake Louise, summer 2010

Attached Images

**jbinpg** · 11-01-2010, 10:55 AM

The Icefields Highway is so full of stunning splendor that it can easily take a couple of weeks to drive the route for a photographer. This is a nice mountain image that could be improved by upping the overall contrast. Move the black point up a bit in Curves or Levels for a start.

mfdesalas · 11-01-2010, 04:07 PM

As a landscape I think it's stunning and I quite like the composition, with the road curving away at the end. I would have probably exposed for the snow and cloud highlights, which are clipped.
If you had a raw image and the right software (i.e. Lightroom), you could probably recover a fair bit of detail from the clouds and snow area, which have blown highlights.
There is a slope along the snow:rock and rock:sky interface where you could easily pop a digital graduated neutral density filter to try and recover detail here.
I don't think your black point needs fiddling, however, the shadows on the pines are plenty dark enough as it is.
I think the two things I would do would be to darken the sky and snow areas by 1-2 f-stops, and maybe increase local contrast (clarity) in the top half of the picture, beyond the trees, to overcome the haze a bit.
Composition-wise I would probably add a point of interest in the foreground, being careful not to make it too distracting from the background. Something like a walker resting on his stick looking away from you and towards the landscape might be evocative, though perhaps a bit cliched... Then again you'd need a walker standing by for you in the first place

Sparkle · 11-03-2010, 04:10 PM

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."
My preference would be to crop out all the highway that is in shadow right to where it is bright.

juu · 11-04-2010, 02:24 AM

I think there is way too much of the road and it's not too interesting. I'd crop most of the bottom part off but leave a bit of the shadowy portion in order to show where the sun appears.

And try landscape orientation to show the width of the scenery better.

**Ash** · 11-10-2010, 01:13 PM

Landscape orientation would have suited this scene well.
Boost the contrast with curves and the use of a graduated ND filter would have equalised the native contrast of the scene to help add drama to the sky (which I think would be well applied here).

10-31-2010, 12:44 PM	#1
sminnyme Inactive Account Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 3	The Road Lens: 18-55 Camera: K-M Photo Location: Jasper/ Lake Louise Took this photo drining from Jasper to Lake Louise, summer 2010 Attached Images

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11-01-2010, 10:55 AM	#2
jbinpg Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Prince George, BC Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,546	The Icefields Highway is so full of stunning splendor that it can easily take a couple of weeks to drive the route for a photographer. This is a nice mountain image that could be improved by upping the overall contrast. Move the black point up a bit in Curves or Levels for a start.

11-01-2010, 04:07 PM	#3
mfdesalas New Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Hobart, TAS Posts: 10	As a landscape I think it's stunning and I quite like the composition, with the road curving away at the end. I would have probably exposed for the snow and cloud highlights, which are clipped. If you had a raw image and the right software (i.e. Lightroom), you could probably recover a fair bit of detail from the clouds and snow area, which have blown highlights. There is a slope along the snow:rock and rock:sky interface where you could easily pop a digital graduated neutral density filter to try and recover detail here. I don't think your black point needs fiddling, however, the shadows on the pines are plenty dark enough as it is. I think the two things I would do would be to darken the sky and snow areas by 1-2 f-stops, and maybe increase local contrast (clarity) in the top half of the picture, beyond the trees, to overcome the haze a bit. Composition-wise I would probably add a point of interest in the foreground, being careful not to make it too distracting from the background. Something like a walker resting on his stick looking away from you and towards the landscape might be evocative, though perhaps a bit cliched... Then again you'd need a walker standing by for you in the first place

11-03-2010, 04:10 PM	#4
Sparkle Inactive Account Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,521	"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." My preference would be to crop out all the highway that is in shadow right to where it is bright.

11-04-2010, 02:24 AM	#5
juu Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 680	I think there is way too much of the road and it's not too interesting. I'd crop most of the bottom part off but leave a bit of the shadowy portion in order to show where the sun appears. And try landscape orientation to show the width of the scenery better.

11-10-2010, 01:13 PM	#6
Ash Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Toowoomba, Queensland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 23,920	Landscape orientation would have suited this scene well. Boost the contrast with curves and the use of a graduated ND filter would have equalised the native contrast of the scene to help add drama to the sky (which I think would be well applied here).