Last week I shared the first image from my New Zealand trip.It was a mountain scene from a trek I did along the Hooker Valley. For today’s Fridayimage I want to share another scene from the same trail. In all honesty, Icould probably share 100 images from that trail. Now that I’m semi recoveredfrom the journey, I’m seeing lots of shots I took that I really like.
This one in particular took me by surprise as I don’t recall taking it. I don’t know about you, but I tend to have a very good memory for each of the shot I take, even over a couple of years. I can’t usually recall them with crystal clarity or recognise them when I see them. That’s not the case with this one so I suspect it was a grab shot.
It’s taken using the Fuji X-T2 and a 55-200mm lens. The lens is set to 55mm and the camera was handheld. With the aperture at f/11.0 and using ISO200, I achieved a shutter speed of 1/680” which is more than fast enough to handhold. I didn’t use any filters either and this isn’t a multiple exposure, just a single RAW file.
In terms of post-capture processing, I did most of the work in Photoshop using curves and luminosity masks. I did take the image into On1Photo RAW 2019 (if you haven’t seen my review, here’s a link) but then applied the adjustments through a luminosity mask to target the mid tones. To finish I applied dodging and burning to lighten the cloud and darken the rocks in the bottom third of the frame.
I hope you like the photo and have a great weekend.
The Lightweight Photographer 
Nice! I like the low cloud in the valley. I too usually remember each shot although sometimes one manages to slip through that I don’t recall. Sometimes those are the best!
Thank you. It is odd how some slip through and it’s only later that you recognise them.
Stunning image! It’s always rewarding to discover an unexpected keeper after a shoot! I would love to visit New Zealand one day. This view actually looks like it could be from my area in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.
Thank you. I hope you will have the opportunity to visit New Zealand as it’s well worth the journey. As for me, I’m going to investigate a future trip to San Juan Mountains of Colorado. It sounds great.
There are lots of examples of the landscape on my blog!
Wow! It looks beautiful. I’ve driven very near to the area on a visit about 10 years ago but didn’t even know about it. I was concentrating on the (obvious) tourist areas and popular National Parks.