"Autumn Interlude"

I refer to this as an Autumn Interlude because I have been planning for a couple of months to go to Yosemite Valley for a fall foliage camping trip. That is still two weeks away, but in the meantime, I couldn't resist taking a quick one day trip to the Eastern Sierra to catch some of the aspens in their fall garb. This image would be my choice as the best of, mainly because of the drama created by the sunstar and the last light of day kissing the tops of the trees. I had hoped for some thin clouds to help out, but no such luck. For that reason, I planted my tripod and waited for the sun to eclipse the horizon; a moment that lasts only about two minutes, if that. The round trip mileage was right at 700, so a fairly long ride just to capture one moment, but worth it all the way!!

A wondeful landscape and a very good shot. I really like the way you treated the light.

Best regards
Eystein

Superb skill,amazing light and composition,top work Mark

Thanks Eystein, Harry, Les and Leo! This was a tough one. First of all, when we arrived, the sun was right on top of Dunderberg Peak, so I knew it was a matter of minutes. After about 15 minutes, the sun was still above the horizon and too bright. I couldn't figure out why, but then realized that the sun was actually going down at an angle equal to the slope of the peak. As you know, by this time of year, the sun has dropped south quite a bit, so it sneaks up on the horizon more so than in summer months. So I stuck it out, knowing for sure that it would drop below enough to break it's intensity. At F16, this lens really cranks out a sunstar. The blending work was also a bit tricky, but I've become an old hand at this anymore! Thanks all!! 

Hi Mark...I had to give this one the max, it's great! So by blended, do you mean two (or more) exposures? Regards.

Hi Walter! Thanks so much! Glad you asked. I blended this from four RAW files. The sequence went like this. The first shot was properly exposed for the foreground trees, but I lowered my hand across the top of the frame to block the sun and thus eliminate any flares. When you see the image, it looks like a throw away, but in fact was intentional. See attached. Then I used three more darker exposures to blend the star and the sky. Basically, the star gets smaller as the exposure shortens, so careful blending will produce a larger sunstar with a tighter center. Finally, I wanted the sky to be deep enough to match my recollection, so I had to blend that in as well. The final blend appears natural and not overly HDR. Thanks again!

The hand of the master (Doh!) Thanks for the info ;0)

Outstanding landscape and the sun rays of lights is phenomenal here and of great add to this image construction and its well thought off composition.

Thank you for sharing and wishing you all of the best.

Very nice photo. Beautiful colors, and good composition. I can tell it's HDR right away. I get the feeling that photo is not straight, it's like leaning to the right. Maybe it's just me ;)

control of light, details, color of autumn, clarity, composition - all excellent to make a very beautiful landscape. regards, Mark

Very good composition.  Very nice.  Good light and the sun rays. Best Regards,

Thanks Rashed, Eyegor, Lester and Wanghan!! Eyegor, I do see your point and almost agree, but the photo is level and it shows more so in the line of aspen trees about midway down, but there is a slight felling of leaning right. Sure, I could rotate some, but I know that the tree lines will begin to seem off kilter after that. The main reason the image seems to lean is because Dunderberg Peak on the left is the tallest peak, but is also the nearest peak, so everything falls away as it recedes into the distance. I would say it can't be fixed because it really isn't broken, just an optical illusion of sorts. I appreciate you pointing that out, however. As well, you are right that it is HDR, but it hasn't been spit out by some HDR software. I blended it by hand in Photoshop. I really feel it has a more natural look than any other HDR images produced by Photomatix, et al! 

Mark, a beautiful creative image. I tried to look at the image without sun star and it does not look so good. So your decision about including the sun was spot on. Blending is seamless. The dynamic range is incredible. Looks more like a painting instead of photograph. It is a 7 for me.

Best wishes... Sandeep

Beautiful shot Mark, the light is amazing  and the idea of using you hand will prove most useful next time I'm out. Thanks for that!

Now if only I can get some mountains to pop up around here.....

Mola!

Hi Mark,

I understand your explanations about what you have done with your blending & such.  Thanks for sharing.  However, I find that your hand-block technique is very unusual since the top quarter of the image is unusable.  Perhaps a better approach would have been to use a (heavy) ND grad?  That way, you would have had more potentially usable pixels that could have been blended into your final image.  

Regards, Jeff

Not sure I completely understand your point Jeff. Let's see. Firstly; I have used grads in the past, but they became a pain. They got nicked and scratched, they added an additional piece of piece of glass/plastic across the lens, they hampered me when I was in a hurry and they didn't always give me the precise amount of light block needed. I would have to measure the variance of light and then hope the .9 would be the right filter. Most of all, they shadowed anything rising above the horizon or the mountain tops near the horizon. Now, I just bracket a quick 4 or 5 exposures and decide later which ones work best to build the final image. HDR pretty much. My current camera produces a  file size of about 5200 X 3500 pixels. This final image TIFF file is almost exactly the same size, so I've lost no pixels in the process. I've just used the most useful pixels from several RAW files. The hand block simply reduces or eliminates lens flare in the bottom portion of the image. The top quarter of the hand block file is unusable, but then I just used the top quarter of another RAW file that was underexposed by 4 stops to replace those sacrificed pixels. If I wasn't shooting directly into a bright sun, I wouldn't have used my hand, but I still might have used several files if the dynamic range exceeded my sensor's range. I am aware that many landscape shooters use grads in order to avoid the post pro headaches of blending. For me, I actually enjoy the process and feel the results are superior. A heavy grad would have left me with a dark shadow across the peaks, but as you can see, they are rendered as a dark midtone, not a black. To me, that just looks more natural. Not saying one way is right or wrong, just that this way is my preference. I appreciate the feedback!!

Mark...  If King Kong was hairless I'm sure that example shot would be a dead ringer.  What I like about this shot is the totally natural feel.  I've seen the sun set from many hunting stands where the sun tips the trees and all the foreground goes soft and the colors begin to meld and this represents that perfectly.  A really superb presentation... Mike

Mark by far the best of the recent 3 images posted. Love the subtlety of the light and shadow blending and the sunstar is more controlled and less blown out than the previious image. Your eye is keen and your image is impeccable and you take your critiques well and defend your technique masterfully. Love to view your work always. Take care my friend and thanks for providing us a great deal of beauty that many of us may not ever be able to experience. rek.

To overcome some of the filter problems that you mention, I tend to use slow shutter speeds and large (4x5 & 4x6) hand-held grads that may be moved during exposure.  And, of course, processing can often improve areas that are too light or too dark.

My goal is to capture a single moment in time in a single image.  A problem that I have with HDR is that it is a blend of images and therefore not a single moment in time.  Indeed, an HDR image can be a blend of subjects-- foreground, mid-ground, sky and sun-- taken at different times and different locations!

You do your technique very well.  My only critique is that the sun beams appear too wide and too long; but I do understand that this “look” is the one that you prefer as it is in many of your images.  Like you said, there’s no right or wrong, and each of us has our preference.  I appreciate your comments and explanations, and I will continue to appreciate your work.

No matter what kind of technique you use, the point is if it works well! Mark, your efforts resulted in a totally natural-looking view, just like our eyes would perceive it. To appreciate it even more, the cameras encounter most problems with light metering and sharpness setting in such situations with sun positioned low over horizon ahead lens.

My attention is so drawn to your skillful mastery of light and your generous sharing that it takes me the second look to realize I am even more blown away by your superb composition and design - your artistry.  Excellent as always