I spent a week out in the desert last week and got nothing this good!
Thank you for the kind words @timtiny! I got a little lucky with the conditions. When first I arrived there it was mostly cloudy but looked lighter to the west. I thought things might come alive at sunset and luckily they did and that really helped set me up for success. I hope you got a few images you like on your trip and at least enjoyed your experience.
Comp sits nicely Scott. Really am loving the colors in the sky. If anything my eyes are looking for a bit more detail in the shadows, see a little texture on the Spire perhaps? Nice job on putting a great big wide open space together to create a beautiful image
Karl Witt wrote:
Comp sits nicely Scott. Really am loving the colors in the sky. If anything my eyes are looking for a bit more detail in the shadows, see a little texture on the Spire perhaps? Nice job on putting a great big wide open space together to create a beautiful image
Karl
Thanks Karl, I appreciate the feedback and that's a valid criticism. I struggled with opening the shadows a bit more (and the raw file definitely has more shadow recovery possible), but in the end I went with more blocked up shadows to reflect the feeling I had there which was a sense of mystery with this dark spire monolith surrounded by the lighter rock and canyons. I worked up the image again with the shadows more opened up, let me know if you like this version better!
ILCE-7RM5FE 20-70mm F4 G lens48mmf/11.01/60s100 ISO0.0 EV
Personally I like the first one more. The higher contrast makes a more striking image overall as the openend shadows in the foreground do not reveal anything interesting. The distant mountains and sky are the real eye catchers.
adventure_photo wrote:
Thanks Karl, I appreciate the feedback and that's a valid criticism. I struggled with opening the shadows a bit more (and the raw file definitely has more shadow recovery possible), but in the end I went with more blocked up shadows to reflect the feeling I had there which was a sense of mystery with this dark spire monolith surrounded by the lighter rock and canyons. I worked up the image again with the shadows more opened up, let me know if you like this version better!
In fairness the first looks a bit better, if the shadows were only slightly lifted on the spire as shown but much less on the foreground I think a gain on the image. But in this case your original is the winner but glad you took a look otherwise too
Karl
Dutchphotog wrote:
Personally I like the first one more. The higher contrast makes a more striking image overall as the openend shadows in the foreground do not reveal anything interesting. The distant mountains and sky are the real eye catchers.
I agree with other posts...the colors in the sky of the first one are really nice. Lifting the colors in the shadow of the spire just slightly, while preserving the sky would make it better. It is already a great picture though and if you left it completely alone it would be fine.
