A different view of Crown Point aka the Vista House

[BPerron]

I was out shooting this weekend and I was finally able to get the shot of Crown Point aka the Vista House...Most people have not seen crown point from this view...most see it up close when they are at it or from the freeway below...

C&C Always welcome...
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg316/B-Perron/CrownPoint.jpg

[schmoo]

Great colors and a lovely view! I bet it was really stunning in real life, too. The 50/50 composition is a bit :rolleyes and (to me) emphasizes the distance that you had from the house itself. I'd love for it to fill the frame... either the amazing sky or the cliff!

Still, really beautiful. Thanks for sharing :thumb

[BPerron]

Great colors and a lovely view! I bet it was really stunning in real life, too. The 50/50 composition is a bit :rolleyes and (to me) emphasizes the distance that you had from the house itself. I'd love for it to fill the frame... either the amazing sky or the cliff!

Still, really beautiful. Thanks for sharing :thumb

Thank you, I thought more people would have commented on this whether they liked it or not...I was limited to my movement...where I was at it was a 4ftx4ft area and 90 degree slopped faces on all sides...

I assume you are talking about it on a horizonital level? I could crop it out the part of the sky...it does go against the whole 2/3 rule of landscapes....

Thanks for the comments....

[bendruckerphoto]

Looks very over-processed to me. I'd tone down the saturation.

[BPerron]

Looks very over-processed to me. I'd tone down the saturation.

HDR is not for everyone...

[bendruckerphoto]

HDR is not for everyone...

I shoot HDR's all the time. It stands for high dynamic range, and that's what I like it as. Images with greater dynamic ranges than what's possible with 1 exposure. I really don't like when tone-mapped images get halos around edges and are very saturated.

[BPerron]

I shoot HDR's all the time. It stands for high dynamic range, and that's what I like it as. Images with greater dynamic ranges than what's possible with 1 exposure. I really don't like when tone-mapped images get halos around edges and are very saturated.

I know what HDR stands for....I wanted color all over the place on this image and due to the light and the normally darkness of the hill side and the distance I was away (with huge hillsides to the left and the sun in back behind the vista house hill, it was almost pitch black with the human eye), the picture needed to take on a certain "over-processed" look that you are talking about in order to to get all the colors out of it...otherwise the cliff was just a dull washed out dark gray area for the most part...

[bendruckerphoto]

So process it twice, one for the cliffs and one for the sky. Bring it into Photoshop and combine the images to get a more realistic sky.

[BPerron]

So process it twice, one for the cliffs and one for the sky. Bring it into Photoshop and combine the images to get a more realistic sky.

here's the deal...I have it how I want it and I did process it twice, the sky was super, super dark no matter what way you cut it, trust me you did not process the photos...You do not like it and you stated your thoughts...great...you do not like it...I took a look at your work and it does absolutely nothing for me...so there is nothing further for you and I to discuss...

[geospatial_junkie]

It looks like a nice image.:D I like your choice of composition and wouldn't change it. It would be interesting as a portrait view as well.

Although this isn't a critique forum, it also not entirely "a pat on the back" forum either. I get my images routinely trounced, and improve because of it.

I also share Baseballboys assessment of it being over-processed. It is a good photo and this is not way meant to discount the work involved getting to the spot and post-process effort.

I find I tend to over-process my HDR images all the time and my fiancé ends up bringing me back down to earth. :cry Over the last year, I've really toned it down and I've gotten feedback that my images have improved.

This isn't related to what I was just talking about, but have you used "Unsharpen Mask" on your image at all? Mine used to look soft after generating any type of HDR. Converting it to LAB colour and using unsharpen mask on the Lightness channel, really makes a difference.

http://cartographica.smugmug.com

[AaronNelson]

over the top sat has a place here as well as pefect toned realisim, i like this shot just fine...
(except the slight tilt, or maybe im just cross-eyed today...)
(and sometimes i just dont care if the horizon is a 50/50...for this shot i dont mind as much...)

anyway, thanks for the sharing of this place......im interested in seeing more from you and this area.

[BPerron]

It looks like a nice image.:D I like your choice of composition and wouldn't change it. It would be interesting as a portrait view as well.

Although this isn't a critique forum, it also not entirely "a pat on the back" forum either. I get my images routinely trounced, and improve because of it.

I also share Baseballboys assessment of it being over-processed. It is a good photo and this is not way meant to discount the work involved getting to the spot and post-process effort.

I find I tend to over-process my HDR images all the time and my fiancé ends up bringing me back down to earth. :cry Over the last year, I've really toned it down and I've gotten feedback that my images have improved.

This isn't related to what I was just talking about, but have you used "Unsharpen Mask" on your image at all? Mine used to look soft after generating any type of HDR. Converting it to LAB colour and using unsharpen mask on the Lightness channel, really makes a difference.

http://cartographica.smugmug.com

Thank you...I understand that some do not like the over-processed look...and I appreciate all compliments as well as critisim....however, I got the critism and yet it kept on coming for no reason and it seemed that the poster would not let it go until I made the way he thought it should be and there is not right answer in photography ever...so you are not a fan of the over processing look to this and I like it that way...if you were to go look at some of my other photos on my page in my Daylight's presence gallery you will see other photos that are HDR and are on the much more real side and not over processed...As for your question yes, I did some sharpening with this....

I appreciate yours and everyone's comments...so thank you.

[BPerron]

over the top sat has a place here as well as pefect toned realisim, i like this shot just fine...
(except the slight tilt, or maybe im just cross-eyed today...)
(and sometimes i just dont care if the horizon is a 50/50...for this shot i dont mind as much...)

anyway, thanks for the sharing of this place......im interested in seeing more from you and this area.

Aaron...thanks man...means alot coming from you and the photos I have seen you produce...I do not think you are cross-eyed...this is a slight tilt...I forgot to take it out, just got super busy and I have not gotten back around to pulling it out and fixing it, I am lazy sometimes...

I agree that over the top sat has a place in photography...and I sometimes really enjoy it, this was one of those cases.

Here is another thread with another shot from the same place, except I am at the location of the vista house you see in the picture on the hill side...
http://www.digitalgrin.com/showthread.php?t=98540

I have a couple of other shots I need to process and then I will post them...the problem with this place is that there are so many people there all the time that it is so hard to get a shot in with out people everywhere...But I will be going back here and taking some shots...

[geospatial_junkie]

I agree that Baseballboys criticism was a over-the-top as well. We are all here to learn. But I guess some of us express our thought differently than others.:dunno

I've reviewed your gallery, and I agree that you have much more realisitc HDRs. I like your lone tree image as there is a nice contrast between the grass and sky.:barb

http://cartographica.smugmug.com

[BPerron]

I agree that Baseballboys criticism was a over-the-top as well. We are all here to learn. But I guess some of us express our thought differently than others.:dunno

I've reviewed your gallery, and I agree that you have much more realisitc HDRs. I like your lone tree image as there is a nice contrast between the grass and sky.:barb

http://cartographica.smugmug.com

Yeah...life goes on...enough about other posts...Thank you for the compliments on my other HDR's, I appreciate you taking the time to look at my page and comment in here...

[geospatial_junkie]

No problem. I know how hard it can be to get feedback at online forums.

http://cartographica.smugmug.com

[AaronNelson]

the problem with this place is that there are so many people there all the time that it is so hard to get a shot in with out people everywhere...But I will be going back here and taking some shots...

thanks back at you.

try this, i havent done it myself but it has always been in my mind to do if needed...it might be rather hard if your shooting golden hour and some duff wont get off their duff....

http://frederickvan.com/blog/2008/04/06/photoshop-tutorial-removing-crowds/