Early to rise!
Am and I got up super early this morning to photograph the sunrise in the Carson Valley! For the past week or two I've been itching to photograph the sunrise over the reflection of the flooded fields on either side of 395 in the Johnson lane area.
Overall, I think the sacrifice of getting up so early was worth it, though the end result still needs some work. These shots would have really benefited from a graduated neutral density filter!!!
Instead of doing it the right way, I had to fall back on fixing things in the computer. The problem that I have found with relying on Lightroom, is that it is very easy to turn a great photo into a strangely unrealistic and sometimes otherworldly photo. there's a fine line between not enough and too much vibrancy/saturation. Contrast and Clarity can really give a photo some pop, though too much and it starts looking distressed.
What has helped my post production the most has been to consider every photo at least twice. In the beginning the first edit must be a draft and then must be put away for a time. When reviewing the photo a second time the over saturation and harsh contrast almost jumps off the screen.
The photos shown in this post I have gone over twice; and while I feel they closely represent what we saw this morning, I wonder if they wouldn't look manicured if I were to come back to them a third time. Either experience through repetition produces a better product or there is simply point at which one must walk away satisfied with the work they have done. I should hope that experience will prevail in the end!