Winter's Glow - Eastern Sierra (Larger View Available)

The 1st rays of sun stike the Eastern Sierra reflected in the Owens River.  I zoomed in slightly, then made 2 horizontal exposures and merged them for this single image.  I decided to crop off part of the right hand side to place the most prominent peak (Mt. Tom) slightly off center.  I was surprised to see colorful scrub surrounding the river, especially in winter.

The 1st rays of sun stike the Eastern Sierra reflected in the Owens

River. I zoomed in slightly, then made 2 horizontal exposures and

merged them for this single image. I decided to crop off part of the right

hand side to place the most prominent peak (Mt. Tom) slightly off

center. I was surprised to see colorful scrub surrounding the river,

especially in winter.

Comments or suggesations welcome.

It's quite spectacular, but the mountains illuminated by sunlight appear to be of less contrast than the foreground which is not.  I'd suggest adding a Curves adjustment layer and pulling the shoulder up quite a bit to pop the highlights, then click on the mask and brush out the effect on the river where you don't need it.  Burn in here and there to lose a little detail in the darkest areas, and the whole picture will come together a little better.  The very strong color of the sunlight is no doubt real, but hardly convincing--a bit more dodging would make the snow on the lower slopes look more like snow.

i vote on the original version, because it handles better the highlights to not being overexposed. in this small size it is not convincing indeed, but if i open the big version, it rocks. excellent photo.

Charles - While I appreciate your re-work and suggestions, I think your version is bit garish with the mountain lighting and added FG contrast.  While the peaks were receiving warm light, there was a thin cloud bank that blocked the sun so the light was not as strong as you have suggested in your re-work.  The lighting was indeed soft for a sunrise.  I'm not quite what you are referring to regarding the lower snow slopes - the line you see separating the brightly lit snow and shadow snow is created by the mountain range behind me and is not a grad filter line, and looks like shadowed snow to me.  As Zsolt mentioned above, the larger version shows ample contrast without loosing highlights in the brightest snow.

 I will take a look at the mnt contrast on the original file and see how the contrast looks there.  Thanks for the input.

Another beauty Harry! A superb composition, with lovely, subtle colors, spectacular scenery, and warm light. Well done guy!

All the best,
Neil

Harry, this is quite beautiful, and I think you made excellent choices regarding the composition and aspect ratio.  I particularly like the soft, multiple colors of the streamside vegetation.  Charles has made some interesting suggestions, and I may like his effects on the mountains themselves, but I much prefer the original foreground.  However, as Zsolt points out, the larger version of your original really rocks, and at this size I'd leave it as is.  In addition, I appreciate your sentiments of preferring to reveal what you saw on that particular morning.  Very nicely done.

Lovely Landscape...

Bravo'

Thanks for the suggestions. I have incorporated your ideas into this version.  Especially visible is the decreased cyan and blue in the midground hills and water, and added contrast in the midground and selective areas in the mnts, where I wouldn't blow highlights.Thanks again, Harry

I like your revised version Harry.

I like it too.  You really had a beautiful scene to work with.