Up the hills...

Hi Folks, almost all my uploads for critique up until now have been portraits or landscapes, so here's something a bit different. I've got loads of 'hill shots' of people, but generally they're only of interest to the person in the shot or others in the group. I therefore wondered what others would think of these; snap-shots or maybe mildly 'interesting'?

All critique greatly appreciated.
Cheers!

1.

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3rd one looks great, could be an ad for berghaus

2nd is good, if a little under exposed, the first looks like a snapshot, well composed and exposure is spot on, but doesnt do much for me

capri_stylee wrote in post #11410290
3rd one looks great, could be an ad for berghaus

2nd is good, if a little under exposed, the first looks like a snapshot, well composed and exposure is spot on, but doesnt do much for me

Ha! Berghaus Jacket - £200, North Face trousers - £100, Look on her face when she fell head-first into deep snow - PRICELESS! The built-in flash on the 400d is alright for something then!

I tried bumping the exposure on #2 up a bit, but it didn't look right. I wanted to retain those dark, intimidating clouds and setting sun thing, and even bumping the foreground up didn't look right. I take your point though as it was bothering me too. I tend to agree with you on #1.

Thanks for the feedback mate.

I find them all interesting, esp. #2. However The white balance is off in 1 and 2. I also like the composition in 2 alot.

Jim ... I took the liberty to work on the snow in #1. Selecting the snow with the quick select tool was easy. I then used Auto-tone remove the hard blue cast which in turn revealed detail in the snow but still a little too much blue for my tastes. I desaturated the blue a bit and used curves to raise the highlights. I left some blue in to match the other snow cap. There's room for more tweaking. The snow should be white however snow will go blue in the shade.

Hope you enjoy the changes and learn something from the edit ... Joe

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rjc1 wrote in post #11411197
I find them all interesting, esp. #2. However The white balance is off in 1 and 2. I also like the composition in 2 alot.

Yup, I see what you mean about the wb, assuming you're meaning the blue cast? It's a problem I often wrestle with; fact is, you do get a very blu-sh light, especially in the shade as Joe goes on to say. I've tried desaturating the blue, adding warming filters, selective curves adjustment, etc. but always return to the blue which, I concede, looks off. I think capri-stylee's comments on the under-exposure of #2 have a bearing on this too.

I appreciate your points, thank you.

jetcode wrote in post #11411313
Jim ... I took the liberty to work on the snow in #1. Selecting the snow with the quick select tool was easy. I then used Auto-tone remove the hard blue cast which in turn revealed detail in the snow but still a little too much blue for my tastes. I desaturated the blue a bit and used curves to raise the highlights. I left some blue in to match the other snow cap. There's room for more tweaking. The snow should be white however snow will go blue in the shade.

Hope you enjoy the changes and learn something from the edit ... Joe

Hi Joe, I do appreciate the edit, the points and the time you've taken to do them. I seem to have a mental block when it comes to blue colour-casts in snow & ice. I've belayed a number of times from inside ice caves and have often commented on the 'blue-ness' of the ice. Maybe spending so much time in mountains has affected my head?

I do, however, like the edit Joe, thanks mate.

You know Jim the blueness is likely more true to the scene. I don't spend much time in the snow.

3 is a nice capture especially for a built in flash

jetcode wrote in post #11412321
You know Jim the blueness is likely more true to the scene. I don't spend much time in the snow.

You're right Joe and it's a difficult one to get to grips with (regarding photography) and difficult to explain. I still get this feeling of awe at times in snowy/icy mountains where everything looks surreal. Sometimes it's all blue but on other occasions - such as a setting/rising sun - I've seen everything appearing yellow/orange/red, (I'm not talking photographically, but how it appears to the eye). I once sat on a summit in Glen Coe, totally spellbound at the orange world I was in (snow/ice/sky), for over an hour which resulted in having to make a horrible, steep descent in the dark... not very bright, but we just couldn't leave because the whole scene was so 'freaky'.

This often causes a problem when I get back and review the shots on my PC, because you get all sorts of weird colour casts, but... that's exactly what you saw. Others looking at it see bad colour casts! I have read about it and apparently it's to do with the purity of light in relation to altitude and remoteness (lack of pollution), the ambient light and the reflective properties of light on ice, or something. Ultra violet light comes into it somewhere too... I'm sure there are others here who could explain it (and understand it) a lot better than I do!

Always appreciate your comments Joe, thanks mate.

chaotichoax wrote in post #11412589
3 is a nice capture especially for a built in flash

Thank you.

Joe, apologies if I'm labouring the point here, but although I like your edit, especially the increased detail in the snow, it's not how I saw it. I'm totally sure that everyone will agree that your edit is better than my original, but the colour isn't how I remember it... if that makes sense? And I am not criticizing your edit in any way; that's how it's supposed to look!

no worries Jim you are the art director here ...

Marvelous captures, Jim. It's amazing though, the lengths that some folks will go to; just to avoid turning their heating on. Joking aside, If you want a quick way of lightening the second one, just duplicate your layer and mask the sky portion blend using screen mode, or just wind levels back.

love the clouds and mountains in #2 ... the snow is a bit monotonic and takes up a lot of space