Chimney Rock

[FrankMi]

For your consideration and thoughtful comments.



Colin Southern reminded my in the Fishing Creek Dam image of the importance of Local Contrast Enhancement, particularly in landscapes. I have tried to effectively put his wisdom to work in this image. Hopefully I haven't overdone it!

At an elevation of 2,280 feet, Chimney Rock is a granite monolith outcropping 312 feet tall from the side of the mountain. On a clear day you can enjoy 75-mile views overlooking Lake Lure and the Hickory Nut Gorge. The climb from the highest parking area to the top of the chimney is about 500 steps. This view of the chimney was taken from significantly higher up!

[IzzieK]

Wow! what a beautiful sight where this flag stand. Do you know how many steps there are to reach the place?

[FrankMi]

Wow! what a beautiful sight where this flag stand. Do you know how many steps there are to reach the place?

Hi Isabel, I added some additional information to the original image posting to answer your questions. Also, here is a link to information about this North Carolina State Park:

http://www.romanticasheville.com/ChimneyRock.htm

[rpcrowe]

Great shot Frank... Beautiful scenery also...

[Wavelength]

Nice work

[Geoff F]

The only change that I would consider, and I mean consider (not an essential alteration) is to crop the right side a little to reduce that foreground foliage which is tending to dominate the scene.

But that would probably mean a different size ratio. There is scope to remove a fraction from the sky, but not very much. The left side could also be reduced slightly if needed.

[FrankMi]

Thank you for your input Richard, Nandakumar, and Geoff.

In hindsight Geoff, I should have tried to position myself a bit more to the left but if I remember correctly I was poking out from between two trees in a narrow opening as it was. I would actually love to have been able to make this scene even wider as most landscapes tend to view better from a wider aspect ratio but that was not possible here.

I might have been able to crouch down to get the trees on the right side to go higher and impact the side less but I may have then ended up with the tree blocking the view of Lake Lure.

[Downrigger]

Nice, very nice, and I think the local contrast enhancement is effective, and I don't think overdone.

[Pappadi]

Magnificent shot!

[FrankMi]

Thank you for looking and commenting Mark and Ramachandran!

Geoff, here is a different view of Lake Lure from a point to the right of Chimney Rock. The background is almost identical but without the large overhanging trees on the right side.

[Geoff F]

And with that last angle, you can see for miles.

Although that left side rock is somewhat of an 'intrusion into the scene' it is actually well balanced by that distance so the composition doesn't look out of balance.

[FrankMi]

And with that last angle, you can see for miles.

Although that left side rock is somewhat of an 'intrusion into the scene' it is actually well balanced by that distance so the composition doesn't look out of balance.

There are other options with a scene like this. I could crop off about half of the rock on the left (if it wasn't for the rust stains that could add interest for some and perhaps an annoyance for others?) but I would still prefer landscapes to have a wider aspect ratio if at all popssible. To accomplish both, I could have done a stretch, cropped tighter, and still retained some of the foreground to preserve the sense of depth.



Which treatment would be preferred...?

[Geoff F]

I suppose it depends on whether you are constrained by printing to fit a frame or have a totally free hand over size ratios.

To some extent, having more foliage in the foreground (as the first option) is a little bit distracting, and the far distance now seems even further in the second image.

[FrankMi]

I suppose it depends on whether you are constrained by printing to fit a frame or have a totally free hand over size ratios.

To some extent, having more foliage in the foreground (as the first option) is a little bit distracting, and the far distance now seems even further in the second image.

I think you have a valid point Geoff. The more I look at the first Lake Lure image, the more I realize that there are two scenes fighting for dominance rather than complementing each other as I had originally hoped. In the second image, the foreground is more clearly a frame for the lake.