Waimea Canyon on the island of Kauai. The so called "Grand Canyon of the Pacific." 50mm with Kodachrome 64. I had a hard time in the GIMP( A photoshop clone ) trying to get the colors and and range of contrast to match the slide(especially in the shadows). What do you think? Any suggestions?

-- Chris Walter (walter@budoe.bu.edu), September 10, 1998

Answers

It's an interesting photo.It's too bad the shadow detail in the front couldn't be pulled out better. This is where a GND filter against the sky might have helped a little to reduce the initial contrast. I find the white space at the top draws my eye continually along it. I'd crop it off down to top of the canyon on the left and right. This leaves some still in the middle, but that's great since it draws the eye into the middle. The contrast of the red and green along with the erosional forms is very nice. The hazy in the distance is a nice touch also.

-- Paul Lenson (lenson@pci.on.ca), September 10, 1998.

I don't think that a Graduated ND filter would have helped. First of all, the sky isn't where the contrast problem is occuring. The contrast problem is between the sunny cliffs and the shaded cliffs. And the border between the two is highly irregular. I imagine that the original slide looks spectacular in comparison to this.

It's a shame that it is so difficult to get up to the top of Waimea, 'cause I imagine that it's a beautiful place to be at sunset. The colors in this shot are average (for Waimea). Early morning or early evening shots would have more dramatic light. Perhaps a polarizer would have worked here.

-- James Tarquin (tarquin@erols.com), September 10, 1998.

James is quite correct. However, it would have reduced the burnout in the sky portion.

-- Paul Lenson (lenson@pci.on.ca), September 10, 1998.

It is very beautiful place. Probably it is a goldmine for scenic shots. But this is the problem! There is "much more" in this place than this shot. I'm sorry, I can't get rid of this feeling. I miss some composition elements (subject & background), and it's too centered for me this way. The light conditions are not really favorable either.

I think you have worked hard to make this picture, and there might be hours of hiking and climbing behind the scenes. I'm sure this shot means more to you than to us, so I'd never say to edit it out - not like one of the previous postings said for a crab-in-habitat shot.

But I still miss many things.

-- G. Avasi (avasig@hotmail.com), September 11, 1998.

Never having been there, this picture makes me want to visit Kauai. I like the subdued colors (am so tired of Velvia !) and I agree with Paul that the impact might be enhaced by cropping away some of the sky on top. very nice!

-- (andreas@physio.unr.edu), September 11, 1998.

Contrary to all the other posts above, I don't think there is a "contrast problem" with this photo. It's the contrast between the dark and light areas that makes the image interesting. It's the contrast between dark and light that keeps the eye moving. This image is as much about how light falls on the land as the land itself. If this were shot in even lighting, it would be flat and booring. On my monitor, there is detail in all areas of the image, so I think there is no "contrast problem." Actually, the image might look better with more contrast to achieve a true black in parts of the shadows. One comment would be to "burn-in" (darken) the corners of the image to draw the viewer's eye toward the center of the image. Good photo, Chris.

-- Joel Collins (jwc3@mindspring.com), September 11, 1998.

Having just returned from Kauai a week ago and having been there three times in the last year I would say this photo is sharp and not from the normal tourist perspective. Though it is lacks any zest or real interest for me, maybe some foreground would have helped. The light in the photo also seems a little dull.

-- Tait Stangl (taits@usa.net), September 12, 1998.

I like it.

On my professional, calibrated monitor there is plenty of detail in the shadows. I just loaded the Win98 color profile and that helped even more.

Question on cropping: do you intend to PRINT the image with that crop? I like it, I'm just curious.

I think the lighting, the mist at the top, all add to the image. Contrary to what's been said, a GND filter would have totally ruined this.

The composition is maybe a little too centered, but the play of light and shadow helps offset it.

Keith

http://www.spiritone.com/~kclark/

-- Keith Clark (ClarkPhotography@spiritone.com), September 18, 1998.