Red Rock

Please comment.

Larry:

 

A couple of thoughts on this one.

 

First, I think the image would benefit from a crop that takes out about 1/4-1/3 of the right side, so that the lower right image edge meets with the diagonal line of the bottom rock flow. As presented, the upper right rock profile leads the eye right out of the frame.

 

Second, the warmth of the colors is lovely but so intense that it is tending to mush together the delicate variations of hue. This is not an argument for less saturation but rather for more color separation. I'd also boost mid-tone contrast.

 

Third, that sky, which is almost single-note monochromatic, detracts from the majesty of the imposing rock (IMO). I'd be tempted to sub in another with a high quartering sun but I realize that this kind of compositing is anathema to many. Still, I recommend that you try it just to see the difference in the image that it makes.

 

Finally, just a note that your mages (I've looked at two) seem to be embedded in the Adobe RGB colorspace. Your web-version images will look better if you convert them to sRGB.

Patricia, Thanks for your comments. This is what photo.net is really about in terms of learning from each other. Actually, this is not a favorite image of mine - I like the red rock color in the evening - it was almost dark - so I posted it. I will try your advice on the cropping. As for the color space, I actually prefer RGB 1998 over sRGB; I know that sRGB is more standard for web images, but I edit my images for printing, not the web. It seems like a bother to change just when posting to this site. How does one adjust mid-tone contrast? I use Photoshop - just got CS4 - but haven't figured out how to adjust contrast for mid-tones, highlights, and shadows. Thanks again for your comments.

Larry:

 

I've attached an alternate version of your shot, with the suggested crop and (uh-oh) an inserted sky, as well as a big boost in midtone contrast. I think the differences are striking.

 

For dealing with midtones, I'd encourage you to read Tony Kuyper's tutorial on luminosity masks here:

 

http://www.goodlight.us/writing/luminositymasks/luminositymasks-1.html

 

You'll notice that Tony spends extra attention to using the basic midtones luminosity mask as a means of fine tuning contrast. I'd further encourage you make a donation and download the actions for use in CS4, although you can make them yourself. Tony's photography is outstanding and his content of choice is much like yours. (I also recommend all of his other tutorials, especially saturation masking.)

 

Re editing colorspaces, I myself work in ProPhoto but I always convert a web-copy of the image to sRGB to accommodate anyone using a browser that is not profile aware. It just takes a second.