Valley of fire (image added)

[Ben Egbert]

This is another share from Jim. I can't tell if it is before sunrise or after sunset. but the foreground was black as received.

I used my own processing on this, starting with DXO. I then used auto in ACR to get a starting point, and adjusted shadows to 100% and cut back white.

In photoshop I used a Topaz action I have to add some contrast and clarity and boost colors a bit. I then added a curves layer to further brighten the foreground.

I have latitude for more brightening but stopped because I thought this probably represented view as seen in person

Brightened foreground, cloned out person)

.

 

[JimFox]

Hey Ben! Great job on this. You are doing great with a dark image.

That's one disadvantage you will have on these and that is you weren't there. I would brighten the ground more. It was still pretty bright out at that point. The sky looks great.

 

[JimFox]

PS, these will all be sunset images.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Nice processing on this Ben. Another nod to brightening the foreground some and adding some contrast to it. There is a dude on the rocks to give it some scale I guess. If it was mine I’d clone him out.

 

[AlanLichty]

Interesting task - processing a scene you didn't see. One nice twist is that you have that as an excuse to do anything you want with it

I like both Jim and Jameel's edit suggestions. Spiderman on the rocks isn't particularly interesting.

 

[Sunny Sra]

Ben...hmmm...im thinking this one in B&W....like a high contrast B&W

 

[Kyle Jones]

The edit is a definite improvement. I'm wondering if brightening the foreground a little more to allow adding some more contrast to it might be nice.

 

[AlanLichty]

I like the edit!

 

[JimFox]

Hey Ben, I like the edit a lot, but I also like Kyles suggestion to brighten it some more and add some contrast. I am looking at the ground some more, and it's coming across a bit flat. With Kyles suggestion it will add some depth to the ground.

 

[Sunny Sra]

Ignore my idea of B&W...i tried some and they looked like horse sheeeat.

 

[Ben Egbert]

I will try Kyles suggestion next time I can get downstairs to my computer

 

[JimFox]

Ignore my idea of B&W...i tried some and they looked like horse sheeeat.

Yep, B&W just doesn't typically work in the Fire Wave area. Too many shades of orange I think, so it just doesn't translate to a strong B&W.

 

[Alisa]

Very nice!! I hope this year I get more opportunity to explore more of the desert!

 

[Ben Egbert]

Thanks Alsia. me too.