Giant Shadows Over Vermilion Cliffs (Arizona)

It was early morning and I was on my way from Page to Navajo Bridge and Lees Ferry. And just before Bitter Springs juncture, I saw this magnificent view. The giant shadows, cast by morning clouds, over the Vermilion Cliffs.

I stopped and took a couple of shots from the side of the road. After spending 10-15 minutes enjoying the view, I was on my way towards the cliffs.

Shooting

It was a straight forward and uncomplicated shooting. I took a few series of bracketed shots, handheld.

Camera: Sony a6000
Lens: Sony 16-70
Focal Length: 50mm
Shooting Mode: Aperture Priority (A)
ISO: 100
Aperture: F8
Shutter Speed: 1/400s
Bracketing: 3 (-1, 0, 1)
Tripod: handheld

Processing

I keep experimenting with my brand new Cityscapes PLUS collections where I can take advantage of "virtual opacity" functionality and dial down effect of any preset.

The name of the collection is Cityscapes and it was designed primarily for architectural city shots. But, I wanted to see if I could use it with the landscape photos.

The featured photo was a perfect candidate for the experimentation because I wanted to be more aggressive with my editing by emphasizing the textures of the cliffs and shifting the colors towards the warmer tones.

When I applied the Sunblast preset, it was obvious that the effect was way too strong.

Unprocessed

Sunblast 100%

But, since I used the PLUS version of Cityscape collection I was able to dial down the effect by using Sunblast 80% version.

Next, I used TOOLKIT to boost contrast and clarity.

The Lightroom Editing Formula: Sunblast 80% (9, 14, 17, 34)

Photoshop: color correction, contrast.

Photoshop Plugins:

• Topaz DeNoise was used to reduce digital noise.

Do not forget that my FREE Lightroom Preset Collection is always free for all subscribers to my newsletter.

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