Owens Valley Sunrise

First light moving across the Sierra backdrop to Ownes valley, Bishop

California. Fall 2011. Constructive comments welcome.

Thanks

Michael

Michael,  This is a nicely composed image in wonderful light.  I wish it were in sharper focus.  Perhaps you can sharpen it more.  Were you using a tripod, a must for this kind of shot?  This is a fine image.  Best to you.  Larry

Thanks for your response. It is interesting and bears a response.

The soft focus is not the result of being hand-held which would look quite differently , it's a softening based upon what I was looking to achieve aesthetically . In this image the primary interest would be the mountain range which is about 20 miles away so sharpening would have little value. If there was a dominant foreground feature it might bear the idea of a sharp focus. In fact  have variations of this photo where I did just that and the result was an entirely different feeling to the shot.Maybe I can post those sometime.  Galen Rowell has such a shot(Fall Sunrise over the Owens Valley ... awesome !  ) from somewhere near here which has the tack sharp foreground and is very, very compelling . 

What I was after was something different in that I wanted to match the quiet subtlety of the first light and the mood of the shadows.

The bottomline, of course, is some synthesis of the photographer's intent and the viewer's response  but I do think that it's necessarily a problem if an image is softened, if indeed that creates an worthwhile image.

Thanks

Michael  

While I've read your explanation to Larry's comment, I find that I still think the sharpening suggestion is a valid one.  Even the foreground is soft and lacks detail.  There is an issue with the section of mountain peaks just to the right of the three distinct pinnacle on the left skyline.  It looks like the digital image was smudged or streaked during post-processing.  It is particularly noticeable in the larger view.  I do like the composition and lighting conditions.  Maybe just a little tidying up (and sharpening) would finish it off.  Cheers!  Chris