Wild Karakoram from the air

2 and 4 are absolutely world class. That last image is mind blowingly good. The sense of scale and drama of the peaks is beyond my power of comprehension.
 
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As spectacular as these maybe —and I believe they are— I see their renditions
as pale considering the graphic potential of the images. Given the altitude and the
cold, I shall guess the were taken through a window —and it shows.
 
Stunning scenery, thanks for sharing them..I like no 2 the best with the different layers and shadows.
 
Now I remember why I follow you on Flickr! Amazing 4 is quality, love the light on the river in the 2nd one
 
Stunning set...4 just tops it for me, really beautiful
 
Jon shots 2 & 4 are just sublime.
 
Stunning set....simply beautiful.
 
Outstanding set, does anyone else get the feeling you are moving in image 1?
 
Lovely set, with No4 as my favourite.

I then spent a very enjoyable 30 minutes looking at your Flickr albums......wow, you have some amazing images.
 
Kodiak Qc said:
•
As spectacular as these maybe —and I believe they are— I see their renditions
as pale considering the graphic potential of the images. Given the altitude and the
cold, I shall guess the were taken through a window —and it shows.
Click to expand...

You don't think he was wing-walking then?
 
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I, for one, will not ipso facto reject that kind of possibility
as new toys are developing so fast.
Thank you for not making me feel outdated!
 
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MattyW said:
2 and 4 are absolutely world class. That last image is mind blowingly good. The sense of scale and drama of the peaks is beyond my power of comprehension.
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Hi Matty and others, this is a serious question to you and others ......... why do you think that these images are "world class" - "amazing" and "stunning"

again ...... not to start an argument or anything ...... but I don't really understand your comments

Is it that you think the images are as you describe or is it the subject

The images are good, OK .......... I have and do fly around quite a bit and look through the window - shots are difficult to take from inside a plane, but if the conditions are OK, it is quite possible

I am not criticising the images in any way ........... I just cannot see how the images are "world class" - "amazing" and "stunning"
 
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BillN_33 said:
Hi Matty and others, this is a serious question to you and others ......... why do you think that these images are "world class" - "amazing" and "stunning"

again ...... not to start an argument or anything ...... but I don't really understand your comments

Is it that you think the images are as you describe or is it the subject

The images are good, OK .......... I have and do fly around quite a bit and look through the window - shots are difficult to take from inside a plane, but if the conditions are OK, it is quite possible

I am not criticising the images in any way ........... I just cannot see how the images are "world class" - "amazing" and "stunning"
Click to expand...

To try and explain my thoughts on the images......
I understand what you're asking, and I think first and foremost, the subject matter is particularly appealing to me. I lived in the Alps for near enough a decade, and have a huge appreciation for mountain landscapes. I think the second image is composed well, with the river leading in from the bottom left, the fringing of rugged peaks in the top left, and the larger mountain sitting on the top right third. I think that the light spill onto the rocks bottom right enhances the image well, and the atmospheric perspective throughout the scene appeals hugely to my interest.
I've seen many images shot over mountains from a plane, and a combination of the subject matter and the composition, along with a relatively good control over the exposure, has led to a pleasing shot in my eye.
With reference to number 4, viewing a scene like that in real life would blow my mind. If I had taken that shot, I would probably B/W it, and put it straight on a wall. Mainly because I haven't seen any mountain scene which shows the scale and beauty of a range like that, plus the glacier adds great context and places the image. I can't explain the extent of my passion for the mountains, and as such, I consider these two, well executed shots of some of the worlds finest peaks. I guess it is a combination of these things that led me to post my earlier comments
 
MattyW said:
To try and explain my thoughts on the images......
I understand what you're asking, and I think first and foremost, the subject matter is particularly appealing to me. I lived in the Alps for near enough a decade, and have a huge appreciation for mountain landscapes. I think the second image is composed well, with the river leading in from the bottom left, the fringing of rugged peaks in the top left, and the larger mountain sitting on the top right third. I think that the light spill onto the rocks bottom right enhances the image well, and the atmospheric perspective throughout the scene appeals hugely to my interest.
I've seen many images shot over mountains from a plane, and a combination of the subject matter and the composition, along with a relatively good control over the exposure, has led to a pleasing shot in my eye.
With reference to number 4, viewing a scene like that in real life would blow my mind. If I had taken that shot, I would probably B/W it, and put it straight on a wall. Mainly because I haven't seen any mountain scene which shows the scale and beauty of a range like that, plus the glacier adds great context and places the image. I can't explain the extent of my passion for the mountains, and as such, I consider these two, well executed shots of some of the worlds finest peaks. I guess it is a combination of these things that led me to post my earlier comments
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Thanks Matty - I too have spent quite a bit of time in the French Alps - we used to live in Annecy and I had an "office" up in the mountains ....... although the French Alps are not K2 they are still quite impressive

I just feel that the images are quite normal if you are used to flying intercontinental, if you see what I mean, and the processing is below showing the images at their best .. to my eyes the images are flat and bland, (and I should know as i produce many flat and bland images!!)

I am not anywhere near expert in pp ..... but just a 15 sec tweak in LR and a few sliders would give you this and a little longer would bring out the dramatic details of the mountains if you start to look at graduated filters etc.,

Mountain_1.jpg


Mountain_4.jpg
 
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BillN_33 said:
Thanks Matty - I too have spent quite a bit of time in the French Alps - we used to live in Annecy and I had an "office" up in the mountains ....... although the French Alps are not K2 they are still quite impressive

I just feel that the images are quite normal if you are used to flying intercontinental, if you see what I mean, and the processing is below showing the images at their best

I am not anywhere near expert in pp ..... but just a 30 sec tweak would give you this and a little longer would bring out the dramatic details of the mountains

Mountain_1.jpg


Mountain_4.jpg
Click to expand...

I've flown intercontinental a number of times, but I must be on the wrong routes, as I've never seen anything like the last image out of my plane window. Its usually a wing, or i am sat in the aisle.
I know Annecy very well, and was based in the Tarentaise for the most part, its beautiful, but incomparable to the Himalaya, which I've been lucky enough to visit in Nepal and India.
Personally, Im not sure about your PP on the last image, it has a very strange colour quality. Given the tonal range, I would have thought a bold mono conversion to be the best route for the final image, but your treatment of the first image has definitely improved it.
It's good that you challenge someone on their comments, maybe I was commenting on the content more than the photographic execution, but my initial comment stands ref 2 & 4, but I agree that perhaps a revisit in PP would yield some stronger results.
Cheers
 
MattyW said:
I've flown intercontinental a number of times, but I must be on the wrong routes, as I've never seen anything like the last image out of my plane window. Its usually a wing, or i am sat in the aisle.
I know Annecy very well, and was based in the Tarentaise for the most part, its beautiful, but incomparable to the Himalaya, which I've been lucky enough to visit in Nepal and India.
Personally, Im not sure about your PP on the last image, it has a very strange colour quality. Given the tonal range, I would have thought a bold mono conversion to be the best route for the final image, but your treatment of the first image has definitely improved it.
It's good that you challenge someone on their comments, maybe I was commenting on the content more than the photographic execution, but my initial comment stands ref 2 & 4, but I agree that perhaps a revisit in PP would yield some stronger results.
Cheers
Click to expand...

all I did was to set the black and the white points, just that, I did not go any further - I did not remove the cast as I presumed it was caused by the sun - clearly the aircraft window has had some effect on the image and some of that can be removed by careful pp

the images are worth some work to improve them

cheers
 
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MattyW said:
…Im not sure about your PP…
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Bill's point is a very valid one! I too meant exactly the same effort.

As I would never give a student a final rendition, I would not even
try to on a jpg from a poster, enough it is to show an interpretation
of the image and the version suggested. I did download image #1
and tweak a few things and my version was pretty much like Bill's.

No, I don't think the subject is enough! The rendition counts for an
important part in a photograph… more, it can make it or brake it.
 
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Thanks for all the comments! Been away so only just got back on the site. The third image is from two images taken with a Ricoh Gr, and the last image is a panorama from 8 images, stitched in Autopano Giga

Some interesting comments re PP. The images are shot through glass, the front windows of an aircraft. The images all start from RAW files with a very narrow histogram, due to atmospheric haze, so a lot of PP has been done on them, in Lightroom and Photoshop, sometimes in DXO Optics Pro. My personal preference is to end up with a scene that looks like what I saw when I took the images.

Also, while I sometimes make them look more dramatic when posting them to Instagram (and on some images of the same mountains posted on Flickr) much more PP tends to introduce more noise and artifacts, which might not be apparent on a computer screen, but can ruin a print, and I sell some very large prints.
 
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These are absolutely gorgeous. Some interesting comments above but the bottom line for me is - you've taken them, they are in your portfolio (I wish they were in mine !)
You were lucky enough to be able to take photos out of the front of a plane and come back with these, - not many people are lucky enough to get that opportunity and to witness first hand what a beautiful planet we live on.
It's very difficult to pick a winner but I think No 4 rocks my boat the most.
 
I would buy a raw copy of the last one [emoji3]. I think it's hilarious to think these wouldn't be taken through glass at that height!
 
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ST4 said:
Ah but glass spoils the "rendition".....LOL!!!!!
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I don't think that it is the glass, although this is a factor in IQ ....... I think that the point is that these images can be improved by skilful and careful processing .... which is always the case especially if you print large images which are expensive

although looking at them on here never show them at their best, (certainly versus Flickr)
 
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BillN_33 said:
I don't think that it is the glass, although this is a factor in IQ ....... I think that the point is that these images can be improved by skilful and careful processing .... which is always the case especially if you print large images which are expensive
Click to expand...

Who will print an image big taken out of an aircraft moving at 600mph?
 
ST4 said:
Who will print an image big taken out of an aircraft moving at 600mph?
Click to expand...

not sure about 600mph relative to and versus distance .. are you seeing motion blur in the images?

Prints - maybe the OP - read his comments
 
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Absolutely fantastic especially the last one - I would definitely have this on my wall!
 
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