Grand Canyon, USA

I like DRAMA in landscape shots. I hope users of his forum do as well.

comments (5)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

I think opinions differ on it, some like it, some don't. I personally like it in most of your shots, on some you are kind of walking on the edge of color contrast. Posted 10 years ago
1. Stephen Philips
  
  Lion
  
  I started shooting just a few years. In my earlier shots (2013) I was drawn into HDR like high contrast drama. As you will find I have moved away from that look and have settled on a more natural but high impact image style that comes from single images as opposed to multiple bracketed shots merged into HDR. While I still do bracketing to capture higher dynamic ranges that my 5dm3 can capture I no longer practice this approach when I can capture the full range in a single exposure. I look forward to going back to the Grand Canyon as all of these images are HDR influenced. Hopefully all this makes sense. Posted 10 years ago
2. 1. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    You're quite the photographer if you only started then!
    
    Anyway, there's no need to justify the choice, it's just that it is an explicit choice, that usually has people on both sides. My personal take on such choices is that any choice that enriches the photo or its message, is a good choice. Personally, I find this example of yours to be great:
    
    With that I mean a great balance between drama and detail. Posted 10 years ago, modified 10 years ago
  2. morpheme
    
    Lion
    
    I get where you're coming from. I've been a photographer a long time - back when there was only film time... so I've had all my career to slowly break into the capabilities of digital, but at the same time not be totally seduced by each new thing. Coming from a scientific background (I'm a medical photographer), I tend to be fussy about detail and not destroying it, so a lot of overly processed HDR really grates on my eye, but the extended tonal range that can be coaxed out of digital is still exciting. I love being able to capture all of the detail in clouds, but still have shadow detail, so I tend to treat digital landscapes with a digital zone system approach - expose for the best highlight detail and process for the shadows, being careful to preserve detail and try to not cause an undue amount of noise in the shadows. It's so much easier than with film (which I actually did do... you needed to take copious notes, mark every sheet of film exactly and spend a lot of time in the darkroom.. isn't digital cool)
    It appears you've got this all sussed out without a prior experience with film ;). I think your landscapes look great, dramatic without looking overly processed or unnatural. Posted 10 years ago
  3. 1. Stephen Philips
      
      Lion
      
      I appreciate your input. I am still learning how to apply the "zone" approach to exposing for each shot when it is critical for capturing the full DR. Simply pushing to the "right" (while it has its place) doesn't get you where you may truly want to go due to the cameras histogram not necessarily showing the true "top end" of the DR of the scene. Once you bring it into LR and look at its histogram and compare it to the camera data you can see where there is room for more accurate targeting when shooting. I am a self taught photographer so my terminology is a bit underdeveloped (pun intended). Posted 10 years ago, modified 10 years ago

No species on this photo

It has been indicated that there is no species on this photo.

By Stephen Philips

Uploaded May 7, 2015.

country flag of United States of America

Explore United States of America 39,960 9,642 8