eastern sierra 10/16/10 "Fall in McGee Creek"

McGee Creek canyon is located along the Highway 395 corridor of the Eastern Sierra Nevada. The scenery here is exceptional, and all within a few miles of the main road. This year gave quite a show of autumn colors. My time in the canyon was brief, but in a short time I was able to find much in the way of high mountain fall foliage. On this morning, rain was imminent and showers had already filtered the atmosphere, so the color was striking. I will take stormy weather any day over clear blue skies. This scene truly relies on the Larger preview to take in the detail. Thanks for your thoughts!

The photo is really beautiful. The yellow and composition are wondeful, the sense of depth is well expressed. I think only that there is a bit of noise (see the mountain in the backround). High ISO? Sharpening? But I like the whole image. Best regards from Italy, Antonio

Thanks Antonio! This was shot at 100 ISO and it is a blend of two exposures. The mountains have a higher value in the RAW and then they are squeezed down into a lower range, so there is no noise, or at least very minimal. My workflow is a lengthy process that begins with the proper exposure and then I work carefully to inhibit any noise introduction. Sharpening is performed at all phases, so I will sharpen for content and then sharpen again at output. If there is a problem, it most likely occurred at output, but I honestly don't see it. I will say that sharpening is subjective and I prefer tack sharp, so that might be what disagrees with your observation. I appreciate the feedback!