Bromo, Java, Indonesia

Mark,

 

If this is indeed a real photo, it's awesome. It almost looks TOO perfect, though.

 

This is a truly superb landscape photo. The composition is just right, and the lighting is beautiful.

 

Is it early morning or evening? The mist in the valley below makes me think it must be dawn.

 

The use of shadows to accentuate the texture of the distant volcanoes and deepen the foreground is very nice. I especially like the dark twisted tree trunks against the sidelit grass, and the touch of the highlighted leaves in the left foreground.

 

The only thing I would suggest would be the possible use of a split neutral density filter to bring out more of the distant clouds at the very top of the frame.

 

Congratulations on a wonderful shot.

Thanks for the feedback. This is indeed a true depiction of a real scene. Shot durring sunrise as the sun burned off the mist in the Bromo caldera. Its taken from the famous Bromo viewpoint, which had some 200 tourists trucked up for the sunrise the day I was there. Nearly every shot you'll see of Bromo is from this location, but most shots are zoomed in on just the mountains, and neglect this lovely foreground. Its an amazing landscape, and it was hard to see the foreground at all for the distraction of the magnificent scene the volcanos make.

 

I changed contrast on the fourground and background in photoshop. I decided to leave the mountains pale and the foreground dark to emphasize the distance. Bringing out the background tended to look unatural and lost the soft quality of the mist.

comments apreciated

Mark:

great photo, great timing. It has a very painterly feel to it. Your Photshop work has done well by it. I would love to see the original transparency. Great job.

 

So much to look at I didnt know where to start.Truly wonderful shot.

This is definitely the best picture of Bromo that I've seen. The treatment of the foreground really makes the image. I regret that the only time I ever got there the only camera I had with me was a P&S, and the battery went dead :-( Great picture, Mark.

a magical place, captured beautifully!

Looks like it belongs in a story book, like Lord Of The Rings or something. Just a fantasy land! And aside from that it is gorgeous!

...an interesting choice point-of-view... I've never seen this before... please take a look at my BW Mount Bromo ...this one without any retouch in Photoshop

I really love this photo and I can tell you, it really looks this amazing. brings back memories. I shot some photos as well and a few weeks ago I posted one for critique.

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=600209

The angle is just terrific and the colors in front as well... My only problem here would be the contrast... It could have been better in my opinion with a little additional ND grad filter on the top part... Still wonderful, even as it is... Regards.

A split density filter would only make this sky murky and depress the entire tonal scale of this phenominal image. Your tonal decisions are excellent, the light pastel colors of the sky are the perfect balance/contrast to the rich saturated tones of the foreground. It's incredible, and I'm so glad that places like this exist and that you were there to make this photograph. What an incredible planet... t

to see a little more color in the sky.. The split ND might have helped, maybe a polarizer. Too bad you didn't use Velvia...might have brought ou the color in the sky. Regardless...BEAUTIFUL image.

I'd have gibven this a 10/10 if the clouds at the top didn't seem to washed out in comparison to the rest of the shot. Lovely - fantatic job overall

Unbelievable that these places exist! The beauty of the image, for me, lies in the contrast of foreground to background. Think you did it just right. An intensly saturated background would have made the photo heavy, one dimensional, and kind of like a bad "paint-by-numbers" painting. Congrats.

Ah Susan , great minds think alike! :^)

Velvia never would have held this contrast range. Not only were your post exposure manipulations good and valid, your choice of a relatively low contrast, extended palette color neg film was excellent as well. Reala is famous for it's subtle rendering of greens and magentas, both of which are essential to the success of this image... t

It is really unbelievable that scenes like this really exist. Wow. And aside from all the other praise, I agree your decision to include the foreground rather than just the mountains is what makes this really special. Goes to show that something new can always be found even in well-viewed and photographed scenes. I wish I could do that! :)

Jaw droppingly brilliant!

What a view...a real magic place!

Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately after hours of trying I've never been able to make a satifying print of this image. It really seems to need the high dynamic range of the computer screen.