Shot this in RAW (which is rare for me) because I wanted more control over the temperature and because I'm never sure I get the white balance right when shooting sky shots. Adjusted the temperature in RAW to warm it up a little (more orange). SLIGHT adjustments in saturation of red, megenta, and blue channels. SLIGHT levels adjustment. Burned the clouds over the mountains to give them more definition. Resized. SLIGHT sharpening. Saved for web.
I wasn't going to submit this photo but after showing several people at work a shot of an "almost beautiful" sunset I had several co-workers insist I must have ripped the photo off from someplace because it was too pretty to be mine (LOL). I decided to give it a shot even though I think it might be a stretch for "The Number 10".
For the record, this shot was taken about 10 minutes till dusk. It was well dark before I got down off the mountain we drove up on.
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At first look I find this to be a beautiful scene. The deep warm sky colors contrast nicely with the mountains. Reminds me of...well...here in East Tennessee.
As far as a critique goes:
First, there is a bit of banding in the sky. I'd hit that with a little gaussian blur to merge them. Second, while the mountains are certainly beautiful, this crop leaves me wanting more. For a shot like this to work in a challenge here you'll need to show more sky. Not necessarily less mountains but we need to see more of what's going on above. I realize the upper part of the sky might've been a bit too light to make people think that it was taken at 10 minutes before sunset but I also think I know what might've gotten you a better score if you'd have included it. I see you shot this in RAW so it would be a great candidate for the following (which is legal in advanced editing). On the RAW image you could adjust the exposure to darken the lightest part of the sky. Then make an exposure for the warm sky and mountains you've included. Combine these two and see what you come up with. If you didn't crop out the sky then please ignore that advice and just include more next time.
To be perfectly honest, I think this shot would've been scored higher in another challenge. While it definitely meets the description the voters need to look at it and think 10 without reading the title.
Overall a lovely image indeed.
Thanks for the opportunity to critique this photo L J.
what I like:
Beautiful view and wonderful colors. the gradation in the sky is awesome. I very much like the fog rolling around the canyons.
what I don't like:
the line of the back mountain seems just a tad sharp. The thin dark line on the edge of the centermost mountain takes away from it just a bit. While it is a beautiful view I'd like to see a bit more of a subject - something I could point to in the mountains or sky that stood out a bit more. As it is I'm just not sure it would hold the viewers attention very long.
This is indeed a stunning image, but without the title I would be hard pressed to find the relation to the number 10. Good luck to you in the challenge.
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