Crooked River at Smith Rock

[Aaron Macomber]

Hey all,

Another hike at Smith this evening. Brr. I'm practicing my blends before my big trip. This is a three-shot blend. I know some may not care for the uncorrected vignette, but that's my jam.

 

[AlanLichty]

I like the light blend and detail in the foreground and the back but it feels like there is a zone in between the foreground water exposure and the sky/ridge exposure in the back that's pretty soft on details.

 

[JimFox]

Hey Aaron,

I must need glasses because I don't see any vignette!

This is a cool river, down by Smith Rock then? It's a pretty good view you captured. Looks like there is one spot that got missed with the blend almost direct center.

Is this a Focus Blend you are practicing?

Forgive me if I have forgotten, but what's the big trip you have coming up?

 

[Aaron Macomber]

Thank guys, I agree with both of you, and thanks for your thoughts, I will definitely heed. I normally don't blend, but use stacks of GNDs, so my blend game isn't the strongest, in fact I hadn't done one in probably five years.. had to blankly tare at PS for a few haha, I was seconds away from pulling up YouTube when it dawned on me. This was an exposure blend, not sure how many stops of DR are in this scene, but its a lot. the sun on the mountian was intense and the rocks in the foreground were in blue shadows. I need to add focus bracketing into the mix as well. Looking forward to warmer temps in the SW for some of this

The trip coming up starts Saturday; Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Phoenix, Sedona, Oak Creek canyon to Flagstaff, then South Rim of the Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Zion, Great Basin, Home. It's a lot to cover in 17 days, I could probably happily spend all that time in one of those places, but it should be fun. Truck camping, so setting and striking camp will be fast.

 

[Zeph]

That sounds like a wonderful 17 days. Hopefully the high pressure over the west breaks and lets some clouds follow you around.

 

[Aaron Macomber]

Hey Aaron,

I must need glasses because I don't see any vignette!

This is a cool river, down by Smith Rock then? It's a pretty good view you captured. Looks like there is one spot that got missed with the blend almost direct center.

Is this a Focus Blend you are practicing?

Forgive me if I have forgotten, but what's the big trip you have coming up?

Yeah, the Crooked runs right though/past Smith Rock, Thanks!

 

[JimFox]

A very cool 17 days Aaron! It would be fun to meet up when you are down here in California. Let me know when you hit Death Valley and Joshua Tree. Barry could be around there too though his plans seem to be much more in the air.

 

[JimFox]

With Blending, check out the Resource menu. I have a couple of Photoshop actions in the for blending with 2 or 3 images to increase the dynamic range of a shot. Download them and try them out. It would be great to get some feedback on the ease of use of them. And since you said you don’t do a lot of blending, the actions are easy to see what’s being done, and the simplicity that can be done with blending bracketed shots.

 

[Leslie Hunter]

I like this!

 

[Aaron Macomber]

A very cool 17 days Aaron! It would be fun to meet up when you are down here in California. Let me know when you hit Death Valley and Joshua Tree. Barry could be around there too though his plans seem to be much more in the air.

Schedule isnt completely set yet, will send you a PM when I figure that out

With Blending, check out the Resource menu. I have a couple of Photoshop actions in the for blending with 2 or 3 images to increase the dynamic range of a shot. Download them and try them out. It would be great to get some feedback on the ease of use of them. And since you said you don’t do a lot of blending, the actions are easy to see what’s being done, and the simplicity that can be done with blending bracketed shots.

Nice! I will do that! Thank you

 

[Tom Narwid]

Nice image Aaron. Have a great trip.

 

[Aaron Macomber]

Thanks all, very much looking forward