Critic 2023 #5

3/17/2023

The icicles hanging from this long rock face caught my attention while on a recent hike. My initial attempt to photograph this scene resulted in the sky being blown out. I metered off the sky for my second attempt but the result was a severe underexposure. My thought was why not try to salvage the shot.
Using Lightroom I made minor adjustments in the Basic Panel except for Shadows (+100) and the Blacks (+77). This was followed by slight adjustments to the HSL Luminance colors (red +25 & orange +67). Adjustments in Detail and Tone Curve were minor.
I did find myself making local adjustments to the rock face, sky, icicles and leaves. My final edit was to remove the tree from the right edge of the original photo.
I would appreciate any input as to what I might have done differently.

5 Comments

MARK C JANKE

3/17/2023 07:30:35 am

The small photos in the blog make it tough to examine the detail remaining in the rock ledge. Using the shadows slider in LR is a great tool but in the process of brightening the rock and icicles, there's only so much detail that the camera registered up in the low light. So brightening shadows only can work with what's there. What I might have tried while taking the images would be to just incrementally decrease the exposure (using exposure compensation until the sky is just below the histogram right wall. That leaves the most light (and detail info) for the ledge. Then in LR do exactly what you did and maybe decrease highlights or whites to bring the sky down some more. You were certainly on the right track with what you did. My suggestion might just have left you with slightly more detail in the final image. Ideally, try it both ways if the image is one you really like.

Glu

3/17/2023 07:54:44 am

Really nice work to "save" this photo. As I am just starting to learn usage of software, I am amazed at how much editing can be done to improve the original photo. My only comment, was that I think the rock and leaves might be too bright in relation to the sky now. In my walks, I tend to think the rock walls and forest floor are more natural looking when being a bit darker. Darker leaves might also help a little with the contrast to help the rock pop out maybe?

Allison link

3/17/2023 05:45:56 pm

I think this is a masterful edit from what I can see in the small blog size. I agree with John with regard to the leaves and the yellow lichen at the top of the rock being a little too colorful (saturated) for the subject.

Rob Nardino

3/18/2023 05:47:03 am

I spend a ton of time in CT woods and have taken that type of image so many times with less impressive results. I think you've done really well with the edit.

I agree with what is said about the relative brightness giving it a slightly unnatural appearance. Sometimes the conditions just force your hand and a composition that eliminates the sky is probably best in the end.

Having said that, I am no pro in Lightroom but I've had a little success with its HDR function; so doing what Mark says with incremental exposures and blending them. I know some people don't like HDR for being unnatural, but that's a matter of technique and it can be done more subtly. You might have been able to accomplish some balance between keeping a bit of shadow while having enough range in "both" light and dark areas. But I know there's a school of thought that says you're basically creating HDR with highlight/shadow/black/white adjustments on a single image.

Maryann

3/18/2023 07:50:31 am

I mostly agree with the other comments. One other thing--there is a pinkish color cast to the trees and sky. Perhaps increasing red and orange luminance should have been done locally to the fallen leaves and rock. You could crop some of the bottom off so the aspect is less narrow--Just to a little above where the rock meets the right side.

Critic 2023 #5

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Maryann Flick

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