Half Dome at days end

[Harksie Photos]

what do you think? Things that are working things that are not? Things that could use improvement or be changed. Thanks for looking

Canon 50D
f/29
1/10 sec. exposure
ISO-100
24mm

[calcuttr]

I think the texture on the mountain and the trees in the backgroud are great, and the colour you have chosen highlights that well.

However, those good things are very much in the background!

The foreground is almost completely black, which substantially detracts from the other beauty in the shot. I have to say, and i'm sure some would crucify me for this, but I think you could really do with an HDR-type shot here. I say this because you have two competing areas of light and dark. If you increase the exposure to properly capture the foreground, you will overexpose the back. If you decrease the exposure to properly capture the background, as you have done, you will lose the foreground.

If you can take multiple exposures, you should be able to tweak to get the whole thing exposed correctly.

On the other hand, the actual composition looks great, and if you are able to correct the exposure (either by a re-shoot or potentially in Lightroom etc.) the water-reflections should look fantastic.

Hope this helps. I personally am a beginner so feel free to disregard what I have just said if it is nonsense

[tvoelcker]

Beautiful subject but as mentioned there is too much dark shadows.
This is one of those scenes that if possible, return to frequently at different times of the day and study the effects of the light.
You have done a good job of finding a great capture, now let light be your paint until you nail that perfect shot.

[CaptainNH]

What a beautiful spot!

I agree with Calcuttr that the foreground is too dark - you might be able to lift the shadows by PP.

If you're lucky enough to be close to this amazing place, you could try a blend or HDR, otherwise it looks like, at the right time of day, you might get good like into the river too.

Great composition too. TFS.