When guests from the east coast come to visit us in Colorado, I always warn them that Colorado is flat and brown. Most of eastern Colorado, the part you see when you fly in, is flat, and most of the year Colorado is brown and arid. The exception is the month of May, when the Front Range shines with verdant shades of green. I took my guests on a hike up to Horsetooth Rock and enjoyed a view of the Rocky Mountain National Park in the distance. This became my favorite image of the week.
View from Horsetooth Rock
Fujifilm X-T2, Fujinon XF 18-55 f/2.8-4 R LM OIS at 30mm, f/8 at 1/350, ISO 200.
Digital Darkroom. This image was shot in the middle of the day, probably the worst time for landscape photography. After straightening the crooked sky and setting the film emulation to Velvia, I went to work. For the overall image, I raised the exposure and contrast (+68!). I thought the rock looked too dark, so I used a brush to increase exposure and shadows, and added more clarity to increase the texture. Finally, I dragged down a graduated filter over the sky to increase clarity and dehaze.
The original RAW image is below:
WIRR stands for Weekly Image Rich Ruh. This regular feature on Das Has von Ruh will show and describe my favorite photo created during this weekly period. My weeks start on Mondays, as does the WIRR. I’m hoping to include commentary on the story, the setting, the specs, or the sentiments, depending on the circumstances.
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