Morning Light in the Tetons

[LucyLou]

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

[LucyLou]

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

[JPS_]

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.

[LucyLou]

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.

[LeeP]

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.