Yellowstone Sunrise

[tbarnette]

A sunrise over Yellowstone Lake. I love this photo but I know there are improvements to be made. Please help with cc.

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[slipstream]

Maybe use some ND Grad filters to bring out some cloud detail, just a thought

 

[tbarnette]

Thanks for your reply. Thoughts and suggestions are what I was after.

 

[Zee71]

Nice capture........a little longer exposure, just a tad too dark for me. Also, straigthening out the horizon.......my eye get focused to the reflection on the lake and then the line going across the lake from left to right........that line to me appears to be slatting down. At this point it's difficult to tell.

 

[tbarnette]

Mark,
I think you are right about the slant but that is b/c the shoreline is running away from me. Do I dare tilt the camera to adjust?
As far as the exposure, I did take several shots at other settings but if I make the mountains lighter I blow out the the clouds. Any suggestions on how to achieve both lighter mountains and not-blown-out sky?

 

[hallkc]

Mark,
I think you are right about the slant but that is b/c the shoreline is running away from me. Do I dare tilt the camera to adjust?
As far as the exposure, I did take several shots at other settings but if I make the mountains lighter I blow out the the clouds. Any suggestions on how to achieve both lighter mountains and not-blown-out sky?

HDR (High Dynamic Range). You can bracket the exposures and sew an HDR together after the fact

 

[tbarnette]

Keith,
I understand bracketing but HDR is new to me.

 

[cosilver]

Mark,
I think you are right about the slant but that is b/c the shoreline is running away from me. Do I dare tilt the camera to adjust?
As far as the exposure, I did take several shots at other settings but if I make the mountains lighter I blow out the the clouds. Any suggestions on how to achieve both lighter mountains and not-blown-out sky?

Hi Tony, since you shoot with a D80, I would recommend investing in Nikon Capture NX2, and perhaps consider shooting in raw. This could be a very nice picture if the highlights weren't blown and a little more detail could be bought out of the dark mountain sections.

Shooting raw allows you to bring out more detail from blown highlights or dark shadows than you can with jpegs, with better results. And Capture NX/2 makes it very easy to select sections of your image and apply lightening or darkening (or other pp functions) to that area using control points (they're amazing), while maintaining the natural look to it. This is why I really like Capture NX/2. It also reads and applies all of your in-camera settings and allows you to modify many of those settings in PP if you wish, or keep them the same.

As someone else mentioned, HDR is another option and can yield even better results with 3 more bracketed shots (from a tripod). You will need software for this as well, if you don't already have HDR capabilities in your current PP software.

 

[tbarnette]

I don't have Capture NX/2 and I don't know if I have HDR capabilities.

I have Picture Project (which I assume is PP),Gimp, ACDsee, Nikon View and a couple of other free photo processing programs. I'm new at the photo processing game. I think I can get my hands on some Capture software but I'm not sure which version.

Shooting in RAW is something I have never tried simply b/c I don't know what to do with it afterwards. Where can I go for help?

 

[gonedigital]

nice job, i like that pic!

 

[cosilver]

I don't have Capture NX/2 and I don't know if I have HDR capabilities.

I have Picture Project (which I assume is PP),Gimp, ACDsee, Nikon View and a couple of other free photo processing programs. I'm new at the photo processing game. I think I can get my hands on some Capture software but I'm not sure which version.

Shooting in RAW is something I have never tried simply b/c I don't know what to do with it afterwards. Where can I go for help?

Hi Tony, by PP I mean Post Processing, not Picture Project. There is a lot of information you can find on raw processing by googling "raw processing." But if you're starting out, then I would recommend getting comfortable with jpeg processing first and see how much deeper you want to get into PP'ing. Raw is more demanding in PP at first, but the benefits are worth it, if you're willing to put in the little bit of extra effort. If you decide you're ready to do raw processing, Capture NX from Nikon is hard to beat for great results with less effort than other editors. But there are many editors out there and I think all have free trial periods, so try them out to see how you like them. Again, this is all if you want to get more serious about your photography and Post Processing to get the best results you can get. You don't have to be a pro to want or deserve the best pictures you can get.

Thanks for posting, and keep up the good work!

 

[tbarnette]

Hello Albert-O,

Thanks for the input. Just a nudge is what I need. Bits of info like this can keep me going in the right direction.

 

[spalding12]

love this picture tony
thanks for sharing it with us

if you have a minute... could you please add it HERE....
as well.... thanks

https://www.nikoncafe.com/vforums/showthread.php?t=155917