Into the Deep

I made several compositions in Zion's Narrows gorge. I don't

normally include the sky as the brightness is usually difficult to

expose for properly and competes with the glowing canyon walls. I

thought the inclusion in this instance might work, would appreciate

you views.

Great photo!

The sky is too dark for me here.

Regards,
Noncho

Great composition and excellent 2 exposures.  Reminds me my trip last summer.

Harry, I simply scrolled the photo up on my monitor until the sky disappeared, and I could easily compare the two.  My personal preference by far is to omit the sky.  By not being able to see the sky, the photo has a greater sense of mystery to it -- I can't see the end of this canyon, I can't see beyond the canyon walls, I don't know what's behind the bend, etc.  In addition, my eye stays within the confines of the canyon -- it doesn't go flying out the top into the blue.  I think a more restricted, confined composition works much better for these reasons.

In coming back to this, one element that is fairly subtle but very important to the photo is the copper reflection on the water's surface.  That reflection becomes more apparent when the eye is forced to stay in the canyon by cropping the sky (IMO).

You don't see too many images of the sky in the Narrows, you did something different and that's how you will stand out as a photographer.  There are thousands of shots on the internet with out a sky so I say keep it! 

Very nice photograph, you handled the very challenging light well.

I agree with Yin, shots of water and walls are very common from this hike, but it is harder to include the sky, which you did quite well. It also isn't too dark for me. Did you do the upper part HDR? Great light reflection in the water too.

I haven't hiked this for many years, but look forward to it in a couple years, when my wife and I retire we're heading down there for an extended fall trip.

Jim - This was made using 2 exposures that I hand blended.  I tried to do it in a single, but the quality just wasn't there.

Stephen - This was more of an experiment.  I was curious to see what others would think of it.  Many shots out there without the sky, and this was the only area during my hike in the Narrows where I thought the sky and the distant wall might give the viewer the expansive feeling I felt there.

Included is a shot without the sky for a comparison.

Harry, experiments are good -- I'm currently involved with trying to photograph spinning wind turbines in a way that seems dynamic rather than static.  The opinions of others have helped me quite a bit in this effort.  In your photograph, I still like a simple crop without the added brightness/saturation at the end of the canyon because I think it looks less processed, and that's just a personal preference.  As I said before, I really like the copper reflection on the water, and in retrospect I might sacrifice some of the foreground, raise the camera a bit further from the water to get more of that copper reflection, and hopefully give the tree a bit more room at the top.  This is just my personal opinion, of course, and it's offered only as food for thought.

Also, I didn't realize this was a blend.  I think you've done an excellent job with that technique -- it looks perfectly natural to my eye.

 I've never considered "difference" as the most viable criterion for a photograph.  If I did, I'd suggest you rotate your camera about 30 degrees, as some folks do in their photography, and that would yield a relatively unique canyon shot.  My primary criterion is aesthetic appeal rather than uniqueness.  If you can combine the two in a photograph, so much the better.