Fall

[quickhiker]

Comments?

Due light level and shooting by hand, I couldn't use a deeper aperture to get more of the frame in focus (tripod would have been nice).

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/StqD4fsDWt0w35BJuciPSduMxvJiGcLBKZCCzrsb_KY?feat=directlink

[wolfnowl]

A good effort.  The black point's way too high, crushing the shadows and I'd lower the blue tint in the rocks/lichen to start with.

Mike.

[francois]

I agree, the black point setting is way too low. As for the blue tint, I guess that it might come from boosting saturation. Other than that, I like the framing/composition. Minor tweaks for the too ark shadows will produce and excellent image.

Thanks for sharing.

[quickhiker]

Thanks for the input! I went back and took another stab at it and ended up with this:

v2:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/1M3JA-1Dw13v9oBlgOkIiNuMxvJiGcLBKZCCzrsb_KY?feat=directlink

For reference, here is the "straight" image with no adjustment:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/EUDX47GstmZHXHPE-TASc9uMxvJiGcLBKZCCzrsb_KY?feat=directlink

The lighter shadows definitely help. They may still be a bit on the dark side, but I had trouble getting the leaves to pop as much as I wanted without losing the shadows.

Using a bit more digital manipulation than I typically like, and desaturating all but the center leaf also make a nice effect, though clearly no longer looks "natural." This one is attached.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/znQJbaZArEU7kIp0YvEui9uMxvJiGcLBKZCCzrsb_KY?feat=directlink

[francois]

This last version is indeed better. Well done!

[RSL]

Very pretty.