I normally don't shoot nature landscape, but recently participated in a workshop up at Mono Lake in Northern California in mid January. A couple of the interesting shots below for your enjoyment.
Any comments or critiques (good or bad) are always welcome.
You have some very nice shots here from Mono Lake. #1 is creative in your approach, but for me speaks to me the least. But your #2 shot is really very well done. I like the composition, the contrast of the snow with the glow in the sky. ANd I like the what you found in #3, that is very different.
Jim, thanks for the comments. I'm still up in the air about the first one. I may clone out the middle tower (faintly visible, too faintly). It's also a shot that is very common shot of the stone formations, so may be overdone as a topic.
Number two is one of my favorite due to the alien looking landscape, and the nice glow.
The "snow flowers" were something I spotted on the ground, and liked the formation. In "color" it was almost monochrome already, so I moved it all the way to b&w.
Matt; I believe you did an excellent job on all, But:: #1 is compositionally challenged (Rule of Thirds & clone out the Tufa in the center right). #2 I like as is. #3 is good as is, but, in my opinion, would have been better with snow only showing. That is my 2 cents and with a $1.50 you can have a cup of coffee...... Jim
Oldrattler, also thanks for the comments. I have no issue with impressions, I ask for comments to see what works for people, it helps me see things in different ways. I sort of agree with you on #1. I may end up printing it and seeing what it looks like with and without the middle Tufa (I suspect I'll be cloning it out). #3 I tried a couple different crops, but the square crop seemed to work, will go back and take a look. (And I'll go buy the coffee... )
Nice set. I really like #2, and if anything, perhaps I'd clone out some of the smaller foreground items that broke the surface of the water. A bit distracting, but not overly so.
Very cool stuff! I dig the minimalism and mood in the 1st.
The 2nd is best in show for me.....wonderful comp and the subtle light, mood and color couldn't be nicer!
These are sooo cool. #1 is great. It does lack some sparkle. Maybe play with the contast or tones a little. I think if you added a little something, that it could be awesome.
I love the other two and how you captured the snow. I have never seen Mono Lake with snow on the tuffas, so that was such a pleasant surprise.
Feb 12, 2013 at 11:40 AM
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Austin, thanks for the comments. I need to clone out the dust spots on the left side, these were quick conversions, so I didn't spend much post processing time on them outside basic camera raw. I may try to clean up the other bits to see what it looks like.
Barry, thanks for the comments.
scraptag, thanks for the comments, I think I played with the contrast, but perhaps I'll try the b&w filter function in camera raw, and see if I can pull the contrast a bit better, possibly brining out the horizon a bit. The light was very low contrasty when I was there due to a fog that hadn't lifted in over two weeks.
These are great, Matt. Really like your effort of taking some not so traditional perspectives of this very cool location. Looks like you had some wonderful conditions. Very nice.
Ed, thanks for the comments. I took the landscape workshop as part of a gift, I was chuckling when the group of photographers gets out of cars and I'm the only one not using a tripod (I shoot mostly PJ, travel/candid stuff, so almost never use one, just not something I'm used to using).
Perhaps as an example, another shot from the same time, but with a fisheye, not your typical landscape lens More whimsical view of the area, and not quite as strong as the previous images, but figure I'll post it up.
... Jim
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