Harsh light and extreme contrast are well-known to the landscape photographer. A sunrise or sunset is inherently a high dynamic range scene. Even when the preview on your camera or the unprocessed RAW looks terrible, don’t dismiss the image! Your camera is more capable than you think and any relatively modern sensor captures a lot of detail. At a minimum… click the Auto button in your editor to see if there is a great photo hidden behind a terrible RAW rendering. You might be pleasantly surprised!
Unprocessed RAW image
Basic adjustments in Lightroom
Finishing touches in ON1 Effects
Go behind the scenes and on location with me as I capture this image and others. Watch In The Field.
Supercharge your dodging and burning by intersecting a luminance range mask with a brush. Get professional-grade results with minimal effort.