3 Castle Valley Road near Moab, Utah- not in the national park

[Dale D]

I have just returned from an astrophotography (private) workshop in Moab, Utah. I had some free time during my photo workshop the first morning. There is a road outside of the town of Moab, Utah that runs along the Colorado River.This road and river are not in the national park and drones are permitted. One of the formations looks like a castle, so the road is called the Castle Valley Road. I processed this image in Adobe Photoshop using multiple masks. I did a gradient mask for the left side, which was dark, another gradient mask for the bright opposite shore, and a third mask for the river. For the dark tower on the left I did several linear and radial gradient masks.The image is 16 bit but still could not avoid banding in the sky. The image is processed in 5 separate masks due to the high dynamic range.

Dale
Miami

 

[REStewart]

Beautiful work, and a lot of it. Surprised you didn't select the sky and run a heavy blur across it to fade the banding. Again, not a criticism just a suggestion. BTW enjoy your contributions (one old guy to another).

 

[Dale D]

Beautiful work, and a lot of it. Surprised you didn't select the sky and run a heavy blur across it to fade the banding. Again, not a criticism just a suggestion. BTW enjoy your contributions (one old guy to another).

Thanks for the plaudits and the hint . I will definitely try that Gaussian Blur. I know that 8 bit Adobe RGB causes banding but this was done with 16 bit.

 

[ForeverFields]

Sweet shot! Know the area well!

 

[rhberg]

Beautiful image from the canyon country. Thanks for taking the time for that processing.

 

[Dale D]

Beautiful image from the canyon country. Thanks for taking the time for that processing.

My pleasure

 

[Chrislaf]

I have just returned from an astrophotography (private) workshop in Moab, Utah. I had some free time during my photo workshop the first morning. There is a road outside of the town of Moab, Utah that runs along the Colorado River.This road and river are not in the national park and drones are permitted. One of the formations looks like a castle, so the road is called the Castle Valley Road. I processed this image in Adobe Photoshop using multiple masks. I did a gradient mask for the left side, which was dark, another gradient mask for the bright opposite shore, and a third mask for the river. For the dark tower on the left I did several linear and radial gradient masks.The image is 16 bit but still could not avoid banding in the sky. The image is processed in 5 separate masks due to the high dynamic range.

Dale
Miami

Nice capture Dale! Beautiful area!

Chris

 

[SpitFire]

I have just returned from an astrophotography (private) workshop in Moab, Utah. I had some free time during my photo workshop the first morning. There is a road outside of the town of Moab, Utah that runs along the Colorado River.This road and river are not in the national park and drones are permitted. One of the formations looks like a castle, so the road is called the Castle Valley Road. I processed this image in Adobe Photoshop using multiple masks. I did a gradient mask for the left side, which was dark, another gradient mask for the bright opposite shore, and a third mask for the river. For the dark tower on the left I did several linear and radial gradient masks.The image is 16 bit but still could not avoid banding in the sky. The image is processed in 5 separate masks due to the high dynamic range.

Dale
Miami

Dale, thank you for the information.

 

[Capt KO]

Beautiful formations, was looking for ancient abodes dug into the rock face.

 

[Filmarik]

Thanks for the plaudits and the hint . I will definitely try that Gaussian Blur. I know that 8 bit Adobe RGB causes banding but this was done with 16 bit.

Lovely photo of amazing landscape. Thanks for sharing!!
I would personally reduce a bit the blue cast in the shadow areas but mainly on surface of the road. Touch more contrast or S curve would add extra bit of drama to the photo which is perhaps worth exploring..But that is just me.
Extreme shadows and highlights recovery when applied more than once in PS can cause banding even in 16bit mode regime.
Keep up the great work!

 

[Dale D]

Lovely photo of amazing landscape. Thanks for sharing!!
I would personally reduce a bit the blue cast in the shadow areas but mainly on surface of the road. Touch more contrast or S curve would add extra bit of drama to the photo which is perhaps worth exploring..But that is just me.
Extreme shadows and highlights recovery when applied more than once in PS can cause banding even in 16bit mode regime.
Keep up the great work!

That is a great hint. I have been bedeviled for years with banding. I know of no other way except to be sure I am 16 bit Adobe to avoid banding.

 

[MARK (LI)]

Exquisite!

 

[photoshop67]

Top notch imaging.

 

[macfawlty]

I have just returned from an astrophotography (private) workshop in Moab, Utah. I had some free time during my photo workshop the first morning. There is a road outside of the town of Moab, Utah that runs along the Colorado River.This road and river are not in the national park and drones are permitted. One of the formations looks like a castle, so the road is called the Castle Valley Road. I processed this image in Adobe Photoshop using multiple masks. I did a gradient mask for the left side, which was dark, another gradient mask for the bright opposite shore, and a third mask for the river. For the dark tower on the left I did several linear and radial gradient masks.The image is 16 bit but still could not avoid banding in the sky. The image is processed in 5 separate masks due to the high dynamic range.

Dale
Miami

Were you shooting DNG? Perhaps the banding resulted from the jpg or png export. I haven’t noticed any banding when I shoot photos.

 

[Filmarik]

Were you shooting DNG? Perhaps the banding resulted from the jpg or png export. I haven’t noticed any banding when I shoot photos.

Banding can occur even when 8 bit TIFF files are pushed too far. The more you push shadows and highlights the more likely you see banding, most obvious in blue skies with fine gradient extending from pale blue above the horizon to deep blue overhead. It is inevitable consequence of 8bit color depth - not enough steps to display fine gradient without banding.