Just as we were entering the pandemic here in the US last March, my family and I were with friends in Estes Park at the Y for spring break. I had hoped the trip would be productive from a photographic standpoint, but I was only able to get out for one sunrise. The trip was cut short and the Y closed as we entered lock down, but I was able to snag this one and a couple of others walking outside our cabin before leaving.
Nice shot, Adam. I really like the colors and processing. I think another possible shot would be without the FG rock. Hope you don’t mind my rework. Cropped, sawn branch cloned out, left side tee trunk burned in.
Hi Adam! I really like this photo as is. I like the foreground rocks as they make me feel like walking on them to go through the trees onto the next rocks for a scramble! Beautiful composition!
I like the foreground rock but not so much the leaning tree…go figure. I remember taking about 30 minutes and many trial images before I was ok with a similar image of Pines and granite.
Adam, I can see why you were attracted to this scene, I find the combination of ponderosas and boulders to be very interesting. I also like the “horizontal balance” of the composition, meaning that the spacing of elements from left to right is well balanced, with the group of 3 pines on the left, the big boulder in the center, and the group of trees on the right. I agree with @Michael_Lowe that it’s the “vertical balance” of the comp that doesn’t work as well for me. The bottom boulders feel a bit out of place for me. For one they are a different color than the gray boulder you really want the viewer to look at. And second by including that foreground boulder, you are forced into adding a lot of negative space in the LRC that doesn’t add much to the image for me. I might have tried re-composing this scene and stepping to the right to exclude the foreground boulder, but barring that, I think Mikes crop helps address the issue.
