topic Re: Morning Light in the Tetons in Share Your Photos

Morning Light in the Tetons

LucyLou — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 12:12:36 GMT

This photo was taken around 8:30 a.m., about an hour after sunrise. During post-processing, I've noticed that I tend to make my images a bit too dark—probably a side effect of all the night sky photography I enjoy doing. For this shot, I raised the exposure in Lightroom because I wanted to emphasize the shadows and texture in the foreground.

I like the overall result, but now I'm wondering if I may have gone a little too far and made it brighter than it should be. What are your thoughts? Are there any general "rules of thumb" when it comes to exposure and brightness in landscape photography, or does it mostly come down to personal preference and artistic style?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Settings: ISO 400 at 50mm f/8 @1/1600

Morning light in the Tetons

Re: Morning Light in the Tetons

Tintype_18 — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 12:32:38 GMT

Possible to see the original photo to compare? Not to criticize but to see what you have done in editing. BTW, that is an outstanding photo you shared.

Re: Morning Light in the Tetons

shadowsports — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 12:39:02 GMT

@LucyLou

Beautiful photo from you as usual.

I've done the same thing. Sometimes I raise EV in the camera and sometimes I do it in post. Making adjustments to the gamma curve can help you dial in your end result.

Re: Morning Light in the Tetons

LucyLou — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 12:39:28 GMT

Good point. Here you go. Thanks for taking the time to review.

Original file

Re: Morning Light in the Tetons

LucyLou — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 12:44:07 GMT

Yeah - I try to use the camera settings, though I don't use the histogram as much as I should. This was a quick stop looking for an owl. Others went searching but I was more taken with the view :).

And thanks for your comment regarding photography, it makes my day. God bless. Sara

Re: Morning Light in the Tetons

stevet1 — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 13:20:37 GMT

Sara,

I think you did just fine.

Steve Thomas

Re: Morning Light in the Tetons

LucyLou — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 13:22:07 GMT

Thanks for the input. Have a blessed day. Sara

Re: Morning Light in the Tetons

LeeP — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:14:25 GMT

I prefer the authenticity of the original.

Re: Morning Light in the Tetons

LucyLou — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:44:56 GMT

Thanks, Lee. Its always helpful to get another photographer's perspective. Take care. Sara

Re: Morning Light in the Tetons

SignifDigits — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 00:52:58 GMT

Sara. Your art is beautiful and amazing, and I always enjoy looking at it.

I am personally trying to limit myself to the parameters of the original darkroom and working in DPP4. It's a very interesting journey and one I'm enjoying very much, as there was a LOT of latitude taken by Ansel Adams and others in the dark room! But I do my art just for me, not for an income and that's what I find personally interesting and fulfilling. I wouldn't want to venture an opinion on your work and will leave that to others better qualified than I am to do so.

I'm not likely to go back to film and chemical baths, though - NOT gonna happen!

For stuff that I donate to local folks for their web sites, etc., I use Lunar Neo and the sky's the limit for changes (mostly literally, as I will put any sky in there that others want). I discontinued my use of Adobe products, but recognize they, and Topaz and others have amazing tools and abilities, and are the standard for schools and professionals worldwide, and will continue be standards and to improve their tools.

It's just a personal choice I have made. Sometimes I waiver in that resolution, but every time I come back to enjoying making myself spend more time and energy, and most importantly, careful thought, on the changes that I make. My current position is that world will pass me by and I will happily let them. I choose not to live in the world where six or twelve months of inactivity makes your skills obsolete. I worked in IT where that was true and it is still true there and digital manipulation of photography and videography and AI. To that I say yuk, or "bleh" as Charles Shultz use to use in Peanuts. I'm going to be retired soon, and don't really find that sort of pressure something I enjoy. Others do, I'm sure, just not me.

Thank you for participating in the site and sharing your work with us, and asking for an opinion. That takes courage and emotional maturity. I hope you find joy and peace and emotional and spiritual gratification in your work. What more could you ask of your work in photography in this life? Blessings.

Re: Morning Light in the Tetons

LucyLou — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 12:12:33 GMT

Thanks so much for your thoughtful response. I'd wondered about the Lunar Neo products. Its good to hear others are using it. Less is better in post and I am guilty of too much at times. I've appreciated the input of others regarding this photo.

Again - thanks for taking time to reply. Have a blessed day. Sara

Re: Morning Light in the Tetons

JPS_ — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 16:25:31 GMT

I think the photo look great, GTNP is one of my favorite landscape locations. I do think that the sky is bit oversaturated (too blue) and the brown vegetation in the foreground is a bit too brown. May I ask why you used 1/1600 as the shutter speed? Will a slower shutter speed lighten the exposure? I'm not an expert, I'm still learning like all of us here. Keep up the good work.

Re: Morning Light in the Tetons

LucyLou — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 11:10:16 GMT

Thanks for the feedback. The comments I have received about this photo have helped me realize I tend to get a little heavy handed with editing. I "tinker". But more often than not, less is better. Just because you can change something, doesn't' mean you should.

Good question about the high shutter speed - what was I thinking? Well, I wasn’t to be honest. Being sloppy. I had been shooting since 5:30 am so I had bumped up my ISO because of low light. We were heading home but stopped for a quick shot of some birds. This shot was a quick point and shoot. I didn’t take time to lower ISO, thus the higher shutter speed. Lessons learned.

Again, thanks for the feedback. Have a blessed day.

Re: Morning Light in the Tetons

LeeP — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 12:36:30 GMT

I have found that most of the people here are genuinely supportive and well-intentioned.

I skew--hardcore--toward being as SOOC as possible with maybe very slight sliding of the sliders for highlight, and / or shadow, and / or contrast, sometimes exposure, and maaaaaaaaybe sharpness as needed for minor touch up.

I prefer honest / authentic photographs over heavily engineered images. But just because I have that preference doesn't make me right or wrong; it just make me "me".

Your work is always quite nice.

I'd love to see this image halfway between the original and the one you posted.