Mountain Rage in western China

[bc_steve]

I took this one from an airplane in Xinjiang, China between Urumqi and Kashgar. Unfortunately the airplane windows were filthy and the SOOC image was a bit better than a blue-ish grey smudge. I've done quite a bit of editing to it. Actually this feels like it is the bazillionth edit I've done to it. As I get better with Photoshop I keep coming back to it because it has been a tricky one. The white balance especially has been tricky, it's always too this or too that. It would just be a throw away, but I really like the subject. I have often seen coloured bands of rock going across single mountains but this is one of the only times I've been able to see it going across a whole mountain range.

I've just seen it too much by now, I'd love to hear what someone with a fresh set of eyes thought of it Is it too cooked? Is there some other technique I should be trying? I've mostly played with Curves, Levels, Clarity, Lens Correction for vignetting ...


near urumqi by Steve Dinicol, on Flickr

here's the straight out of camera image, just made it into a JPEG from the RAW with all the default settings:

 

[BlackSheep]

Big improvement from the original shot, IMO.

I did a bit of googling to see what the mountains in that area are supposed to look like, and are these the "flaming mountains"? If yes, a google image search shows you did a pretty good job with the corrections. The only thing I would do, if it wouldn't push the image too far from reality, would be to darken it a bit.


Thanks for sharing this photo, by the way - the geologist in me really enjoyed it!

 

[laynea24]

I like this! It has nice shadows.

 

[Juga]

I like how the mountains have the feel like they are flowing into the lake.

 

[bc_steve]

Thanks! I needed a second opinion, my brain felt fried on it from seeing it so many times!

Big improvement from the original shot, IMO.

I did a bit of googling to see what the mountains in that area are supposed to look like, and are these the "flaming mountains"? If yes, a google image search shows you did a pretty good job with the corrections. The only thing I would do, if it wouldn't push the image too far from reality, would be to darken it a bit.


Thanks for sharing this photo, by the way - the geologist in me really enjoyed it!

Nope it isn't the Flaming Mountains, but I did end up going there later on in my trip. It is pretty cool there.

I knew about where I was since I had just taken off from Urumqi when I took that picture. You can find it on Google Maps if you type in "Santunhe Reservoir." That is the "lake" that is in the picture. It is in the Tian Shan (Shan means mountain range I believe), and more specifically the Eren Habirga Mountains. If you Google it, you can actually see the whole formation. It's pretty neat.