I would appreciate comments and critique. This was taken in Oak Creek Canyon, just outside Sedona Arizona.

Thanks,

Dave

Beautiful colors and composition, Dave. The row of rocks on the left nicely brings the viewers into the frame. I bit this would look great mounted on the wall.

Composition/use of frame space: Very cood use of frame space. Stream leads the eye effectivly through the frame, and leads you to the wall looking at the outcropping.

Colors/White Balance:
Colors are ok but slightly unnatural (I have walked this section of Oak Creek many of times)

Exposure : This is an area that hurts the most on this shot. Hopefully you shot in RAW and can reclaim part of the blown red channel on the upper rock outcropping. I personally would have bracketed 2 shots of this for any blending needed from such a thing...if you have RGB histogram on your camera...make sure you activate it to avoid this.

Creative use of Aperture/Shutter : Not really applicable here....basicly maintained good DOF.

Perspective: Good perspective...your eye naturally follows the canyon well.

Creativity : Nice representation of a very rugged area....might have played with a few foreground objects to anchor the frame.

Emotion :...well..for me a lot as I have a soft spot for Oak Creek...one of my absolute favorite places in the world.

Forethought/Visualization: Pretty good. As stated though...finding a good anchor would have only helped.

Post processing: Here is another area of gremlins for you....the reds just dont cut it for me...under the outcropping is a bit more natural...bu all the brighter areas have a yellow/red overcast that is a sore point in an otherwise VERY well done shot. I would love to play with the RAW shot to see what I could extract from this....worth the extra effort.

Roman

Roman,

Thanks for the comments. I always appreciate when you take the time to critique; I have learned a lot from you.

I did bracket the exposures, but in this case the red channel in the RAW file was not blown out at all. I managed to do that all by myself in PS!! I need to remember to watch the histograms as I work.

As far as the color I am not sure what to do. The RAW file has more of an orange tint, but I thought it needed to be more red. I know the Margulis book says to look for something neutral to set colors, but I did not know how to do that in this shot. I will re-do the PP watching the histogram this time.

I would love to somehow send you the RAW file - I learn a lot when you retouch my shots. I expect it's 10MB size would make it prohibitive to email, but let me know if you have any ideas.

Daniel,

Thanks for the comments. I enjoy your article on this site, and the shots at your smugmug site are fantastic.

Dave

Dave...just go here:
http://www.sendthisfile.com/

And sign up.

Send me the file and I will post the results full sized on my web site.

Roman

I have been playing with this all afternoon - I would appreciate hearing if people think this is better. I set a neutral point on the lighter portions of the rocks on the top left.

Roman - I see now that you gave me a place to send the file; that is great and much appreciated. Please let me know your thoughts after reviewing the attached. I will send the RAW file to you if you still see things that could be done to make it better.

Thanks everyone.
Dave

Send me the file if that is still ok.....romans.photos @ comcast.net (broken apart to protect against auto email scrapers....)

Hey Daveman,

Please send it to me as well. This could be fun.

James

Roman and James,

I just sent the file to both of you.

Roman - the "send-a-file" site would not accept your email address because of the spaces. I tried the address listed on your pbase site - [Email]romanjohnston@comcast.net.[/Email] Let me know if that is not valid.

James - I used the email address on your Wedding website.

I am excited to see what you two can do with it.

Thanks for your help.

Dave

Is this kinda what you were going for?



I PP'ed it at 25MP raw...so should print pretty darned large...up to 30"x45" on a LightJet. (which does the uprez for you mechanically)

I will send you the link to the full sized file tonight if you want it.

Roman