Half Dome

[Calichis]

Hi Everyone, I am new here. I would like to get a new digital camera as I have really been enjoying taking pictures lately. Before I jump into the decision I thought I would try to learn more about digital photography in general. I have been also working on my photo editing. Here is a before and after of Half Dome in Yosemite, CA. Please comment on the editing, what you would do different or what I did well. My camera at the moment is nothing special - so I'm trying to make the most of the photos I have. Thanks!

Here is the after.

EFIX -
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1083/500000)
Aperture: f/6.7
Focal Length: 11.6 mm
ISO Speed: 80
Exposure Bias: 0/10 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

[aguer]

This pic is just soooo alive....pls share how you did it. Am very new with post editing.

Thanks,

[Father Bob]

Nice shot! Really captures the grandeur of the scene.
You've lost details in the clouds and have a slight cyan color cast.
I took the liberty of a quick edit.



Two copied layers blended with hard light and overlay (inverted) and reduced opacity to brighten it up.
Levels to improve the contrast.
Color balance to correct color cast. More red warms it up a tad.
Shadows and highlights to bring out the shadowed face a bit.
Sharpen

[FotoMike]

Taken from Glacier Point I presume? Nice job on the PP please post your steps for us.

[Calichis]

Yeah, it was from Glacier Point. Thanks for the comments and help! Um, I did some messing with curves and I think I did a High Pass as well. The clouds too look too bright

[Skarlett]

While I like what Father Bob did, I like Calichis edit better over all. The clouds are blown out, but the rest of the picture is so vibrant and energetic. Perhaps try taking the original picture and making it a layer over the edited one then erase everything from the original except the clouds. You may have to tweek the clouds a bit with a levels or curves layer to help match the two layers. Other then the clouds though, good job!

[navy.wife_2004]

I really like the edit you did with this. I agree, you kind of lost the sky with it, I jsut opened up picasa and did a 'feeling lucky' edit, haha and this is what it came up with.

I love your edit tho. Nice job! Great photo!!