Paulina Peak Photo

Photographer’s Note

The highest point on the Newberry Volcano is Paulina Peak with an elevation of 7,984 feet/2437 meters. The gently sloping flanks, embellished by more than 400 cinder cones, consist of basalt and basaltic andesite flows, andesitic to rhyolitic ash-flow and air-fall tuffs and other types of pyroclastic deposits, dacite to rhyolite domes and flows, and alluvial sediments produced during periods of erosion of the volcano. At Newberry's summit is a 4- to 5-mile-wide caldera that contains scenic Paulina and East Lakes.

I took this picture just after leaving the summit looking back at this formation. I saw Carlos' photo using bracketing of exposure values. I tried to do that with this photo although I'm not sure how to do this. This is three different exposure values, one for the sky, one for the rocks and one for the trees. any hints will be appreciated.

pablominto, besnard, darrasin, rewshearer, leo61, Vicky, Rossignol, ribeiroantonio, bazal, feather, xuaxo, delkoo, TeresaT, singuanti, cjmm, ALIRIZA, banyanman, Pitoncle, gunbud, scobert has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Gerrit (36553) 2006-09-03 1:11

Hi Patricia,
suberbe light on the rocks and a great diagonal shadowline. A BEauty.
Regards, Gerrit

pablominto (41690) 2006-09-03 1:48

Hi Pat,
I think this image looks good as it is!
The warm sunset light adds beauty to the awesome rock, enhancing the colour nicely...
Pleasant diagonal composition!
Sorry but I'm no expert on HDR...
Greetings,
Pablo -

besnard (31348) 2006-09-03 1:52

Bonjour Patricia
Très joli cliché de ce rocher rouge qui se détache de belle manière sur le bleu profond du ciel. Belle luminosité, jolies couleurs.
Merci pour le partage et bon dimanche.
Nicole

darrasin (2860) 2006-09-03 2:06

Hi Patricia! These very saturated colors caught my eye. Good note too. The interesting shape of the rocks and great contrast among the greens, reds, and blue sky really make this a striking image.

I'd really love to visit Bend some day...

TFS
Doug

rewshearer (682) 2006-09-03 2:12

Hi Patricia
At a peer I can just make out the edges of your post-processing work ... but what matters is that the colours and light in this shot are just stunning. You've turned it into a very beautiful work, although I suspect the original already was. :)
Congratulations and thanks for sharing!
Rew

leo61 (44112) 2006-09-03 3:01

Hi Patricia!
Verry strong colors and nice light.Good composition with the diagonal row of trees and the shadow.
Regards,Leo

Vicky (1438) 2006-09-03 3:05

Hi Patricia,
The saturated colours of this one jump right out at you and this is what makes it so noticeable. The warm light hitting the rock with that dark blue sky as a background is very striking and effective. It's well composed and the details in the rock and trees are very clear. Your PP work looks fine to me! Excellent. Best wishes, Vicky

Rossignol (2289) 2006-09-03 3:45

Superb colour contrasts you've captured here, Pat. The warm tones of the rocky peak stand out brilliantly against that royal blue sky and the diagonals formed by the lit and shaded areas of the trees balance the composition well.
A very strong image.
Peter

nicole80 (2162) 2006-09-03 3:47

Hello Paticia,
The coulours are very saturated. I think you must have use a polarizing filter ? I like the contrast between the blue sky and the orange rock.
Great composition too!
Have a nice day,
Nicole

ribeiroantonio (22058) 2006-09-03 3:47

This is a beautiful picture. I like the superb light and the strong colours. I don’t know nothing about the technique(s) you mentioned but I like the final result. Well done.
Antonio

bazal (7898) 2006-09-03 4:17

Hi.
The way you managed to produce this picture was undoubtedly the good one to allow us enjoying the superb light, contrasts and colors of the scene.
This place is really amazing and your composition quite well balanced.
I just notice some ugly but very small artefacts in high contrast areas (edges rock/sky)that may be corrected (?) after post processing.
Thanks for sharing.

feather (50560) 2006-09-03 5:25

I just had some tips from Carlos yesterday about this method but haven't tried it yet. It probably takes exteme care and patience and I think you may have to increase the size to about 200% to work on it. I can see some evidence where the rocks meet the sky. What about running the soften brush on low opacity over the join?
However, you have produced an image with great impact and probably close to how you saw it. The colours are really stunning. This is a very impressive rock formation.
Kath

markstaples (15670) 2006-09-03 5:33

A really beautiful, almost abstract shot, with wonderful textures and lighting. I love the saturated colours which show great vibrancy. Nice work and well done.
Best wishes
Mark

xuaxo (5911) 2006-09-03 6:21

Hi Pat
My question is, after Kath's words, is this image probably close to how you saw it?
It is beautiful, perhaps the sky a little too dark, perhaps a bit of too much saturation, but in the whole the result is beautiful, no doubt about it. Nevertheless, I still have the question and the curiosity about the answer.
Francisco

Pitoncle (3743) 2006-09-03 7:14

Bonjour Patricia,
Très agréble composition avec seulement trois couleurs.
A bientôt sur TE pour de nouvelles aventures.
Gérard

delkoo (35024) 2006-09-03 7:54

hi patricia
very nice satured landscape.
stunning colours and well composed

didier

TeresaT (10733) 2006-09-03 16:42

Hello Patrcia,
What a great view of this rock formations.
The saturated blue sky is amazing.
I also like the warm light here and the diagonal of the trees.
A very pleasant compostion.
Regards
Teresa

singuanti (15240) 2006-09-03 22:47

Hi Pat. I think you are to be commended on getting a great result with sticking the three shots together as such. You have a seamless result with plenty of contrast. The snazzy new Nikon D80 lets you shoot for foreground, middle, and sky exposure and it will combine all three for you by itself. That picture reminds me of a lot of Utah. Superb shot Patricia!

cunejo200 (7243) 2006-09-03 23:37

Hi Pat,
What a scenic view. Stunning. Sorry, I'm clueless re: your tech q. Best wishes.
Danilo

cjmm (4019) 2006-09-04 17:05

Hi Pat,

Thanks a lot for the mention.

The result you got is stunning! And, after reading through the critiques and comments I am also sure that this image is much closer to what you really saw; with details both in highlights and shadows.

I do not know the technical reason, but dynamic range (and not definition) is considered to be the 'achilles heel' of digital photography. This technique may take a little more time (more or less as Kath says, I worked with the image at 100% size), but you can get very good results. Even so, bracketing comes from film days.

If you have time, you can find more tips in this page (and if you like landscapes, I guess you will enjoy the site.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/determining-exposure.shtml

Kind regards, have a nice week!
Carlos

Polonaise (5638) 2006-09-04 22:23

It's no longer a photo, Pat.
It's an image! YOUR IMAGE Pat, of ...something.
This is quite irrelevant of what is it.
It's YOUR IMAGE. That's all it counts.
Succumbs us into it like a vacuum.
Power stuff.

g.

ALIRIZA (16197) 2006-09-05 14:22

Hello Patricia,
I like the colors(green, brown and blue)very much, natural. The composition, light and sharpness are excellent. Congratulations!
Have a nice day...
Ali Rıza

[2]

fayeulle (26547) 2006-09-05 17:05

Woahhh Patricia.
What a constrast What colors ! Like the mix of theblue the red and the green.
Really Well done
Cheers
JP

rosaline (0) 2006-09-06 4:20

Hi Patricia
This is an excellent shot capturing the light at a great moment. I love the blue sky in the background which serves to push out the whole photograph and give it immediate impact. The shadow is well caught too, showing us a nice dividing line between shade and warm light. Good composition as well. Great work.
Aubrey

LCannon (2776) 2006-09-15 21:12

The glowing colors of this are so beautiful Pat, I love the rock formations and the greenery in the foreground. What a wonderful job putting those exposures together, I have no idea how to do that! Well done, this place is south of where my oldest daughter lives and I want to visit sometime, TFS.

banyanman (7739) 2006-09-20 7:02

This is not so much a photograph but more a piece of art that you have created with the camera and computer, Pat. It is very bold and striking, and I love the warm colours of the rocks, but I think I would have preferred less of a purple colour in the sky (i.e. more deep blue) but then it would been more like a photograph - so I suppose it depends on your objective in presenting this. Don't get me wrong, I still like this very much, but perhaps I wouldn't have been as bold as you in presenting this against such a richly saturated purplish sky. What you have done though is motivate me even more to learn how to use layers. I can see the slight halo effect around the rocks, but I am sure you will discover ways to overcome this as you improve your PP skills - you are still way ahead of me at the moment. Cheers . . . David

gunbud (28295) 2008-02-13 12:28

Hi Pat,
Stunning colors to this rock face seen in optimal light. The shadows on the lower part of the image produces lovely differing shades of green that contrast nicely with the golden hue to the roch face that is wonderfully complimented by the vibrant blue sky. Excellent composition.
Regards, Tom
BL

scobert (5333) 2008-02-22 15:11

Hi Pat,
This has to be one of the strangest looking peaks that I have ever seen. The distorted rock formations molded into shape from vocanic activity and then battered by rain and wind erosion makes for some fascinating geology. Your did a great job of exposure and of getting the beautiful light of the setting Sun. Your photo is more effective with a little sidelighting and the shadows in the foreground. This is really excellent work! Well done!
Stan