John Paul Durazo III

This photo was composed on a yearly trip I take with my fiancé for her birthday. I grew up in Yosemite then relocated to San Diego were I met my fiancé. when we first started dating I decided to take her camping and introduce her to Yosemite for the first time on her birthday. This was our 5th time coming together and its when I asked her (then my girlfriend) to marry me. It was a very special moment for the both of us, while we were walking through the valley I noticed a small rain cell rolling in and decided to stay out and compose a few photographs. This place can humble anyone, as you are surrounded by giant granite mountains while standing on the valley floor below. So I wanted to capture the clouds rolling over the peaks as if they were reaching into the heavens giving the viewer a perspective/narrative of their sheer magnitude. I used Lightroom to choose/process most of the photograph. Using the tone curve and h.s.l. (hue, saturation, luminance) to give me a basic desired look, then imported it into photoshop to clean it up a bit further with masking/clone/healing tools, dodging, burning, and sharpening to give the granite some detail and pop. I named this composition case study 002 because of the meaning (case study) fit the background and story behind it (a process or record of research in which detailed consideration is given to the development of a particular person, group, or situation over a period of time).I hope you enjoy.
Cheers!