Long Exposure Contest Entry by Mitchell Griffin

November 8, 2019

Captured this photo last summer looking south at the Three Sisters Mountains from Black Butte Ranch. I had just gotten a new ND filter and this sunset long exposure was my first photo utilizing it. The exposure was 3 minutes long but I focus stacked the foreground with a quicker shutter speed.

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4 Comments

Richard Rhee November 8, 2019

I'm feeling the processing and light a lot although at first glance the composition feels a bit bottom heavy and the water flowing through the middle is distracting to me.

Consider crouching down so you'd see just the wildflowers extending into the nicely lit grass while obscuring the stream. I think that if you're IN the wildflowers and narrowed down the foreground by crouching it'd help the composition balance. Also consider shooting with a longer lens to make the Sisters more prominent. Not sure what focal length you're using but I would see what stepping back a bunch and shooting at 50-70mm would give you.

I like the processing but perhaps it could be pushed just a bit by using a luminosity mask to dodge the lit side of the wildflowers to add more dramatic light to your foreground.

Mitchell Griffin November 9, 2019 Richard Rhee

Thank you so much Richard for the feedback. I agree with you on the stream. At the time I think I was mostly excited to see how much I could blur with my new filter, and didn't realize how I was drawing from the composition haha. I really appreciate the in-depth response and I'll most likely try a similar shot this coming summer!