"Oahu Awakening"

My first post from this sight was a 9 vertical frame panoramic stitch. It turned out fine, but I think this composition may be easier to sink your teeth into. Interestingly, when the stitch was completed, I noticed an unusual hook on the peak of the mountain to the right. It didn't look natural to me, so I thought it was a stitching error. After going back and looking at each frame, I could see that in fact it is the way the mountain is shaped. This is the Nu'uanu Pali overlook. It provides a spectacular view, but don't get to close to the edge. As recently as January of 2010, a man climbed past the rails and fell to his early demise. (He was actually 84 years old, so not SO early). Thanks for your impressions. The Larger preview is a must for proper viewing!

Thanks for your time. Please utilize the Larger preview!

So beautiful & great colors ^^^ Max

 

***Ali***

Mark, I like this a lot. It's not your finest composition, but it is very well done. What bothers me though it that it is bordering on the HDR look. I'm not disputing the reality of the morning just reacting to what is presented. Did it really look like this? f it did, then you were presented with a rare display. I have seen light like this but not often at my latitude.

Thanks Ali and Jeff. I like the way this turned out as well Jeff. Glad you like this one! It is HDR, just not the conventional type produced with Photomatix or some other HDR software. Much like I usually do, this is assembled from three exposures. The sky being one, most of the midground being two and finally the nearest foreground and right side hill making the third. I probably could have done nearly as well with two, but I wanted to make sure the near foreground didn't get noisy, so I worked that one in as well. I processed and then blended the three exposures. Finally, I did execute a hard curve on the sky to get more separation of tones. I especially wanted the distant low cloud line to stand out. I also applied a midtone contrast sharpening, much like the clarity slider in camera RAW, to reduce the hazy look. I also infused a "Velvia" move with the channel mixer to add some pop. I would say that it appears more vibrant than what actually occurred and my guess is that the foreground is slightly brighter. Meanwhile, it was a memorable morning. In all honesty, my goal is not to reproduce exactly how it appeared, but more so, what my impression of the scene was. No different I'm sure than how Ansel Adams may have manipulated his negatives and prints to achieve a desired look, not just a documentation.

The various shades of green and the sky are to die for - well done. It looks even better on the larger version.

Mark, I whole-heartedly agree with your reasoning about personal interpretation and not so much exact documentation. This is a fantastic photograph!

Thanks Tony and Tim, I appreciate your kind observations!

great full

This is a wonderful landscape with great light, composition and clarity. Very nice dynamic range with lovely depth. Excellent work!