For a weekend warrior like me (except for the two weeks in the year), a lot of things need to coincide for an image like this to happen for me. This is somewhat an experiment for me as I place a “heavy” element in the midground (the rocks), I think it definitely creates some tension (at least in the mind of the viewer), but is that a good thing? I don’t know. All feedbacks are more than welcome. I intended this to be a B&W image from the beginning even as I shot it. I hope I do the scene some justice, it was quite a storm.
REV: Alright, I think I am quite happy with this version. I think I am settling somewhere in between what I have and Igor and Ed suggested below. I rather like what Ed did with the virga and I think that also addresses, to some extent, what others have suggested about making the storm a little more prominent.
I also like the use of b&w in this photo Adhika, for me it adds to the lonesomeness of the scene. The composition helps bring me into the image and the rock helps make the photo real, not staged. Well done.
When I worked the scene, I wanted to make a strong near-far composition with the rock but as I carried on, these “rock plates” started to attract my intention and I decided that it would go better with what’s going on. I experimented with several ways to place the rock, this one seemed to be the one I find most pleasing. I am glad you don’t think it’s awkward. I also think it creates a more “inhospitable” look to the landscape.
Excellent black and white image Adhika. You have a nice leading line into the image from the lower left corner. Good rock placement to add some foreground interest and the storm cloud dropping heavy amounts of rain in the upper right corner of the frame to add interest in an area where there normally would be none. My only nit is the fairly empty lower right quadrant. There is not much interest there. I’m thinking if you could perhaps dodge and burn just a tiny bit to create an artificial leading line or create a little tension. Just thinking out loud here.
This one really works for me, especially in monochrome. Great use of wide angle - a tremendous feeling expanse moving right out from the leading line, past the rock and all the way out to the cloud burst. Very dramatic.
The more I’ve viewed this, the more I like it as presented. Initially, I immediately thought of a pano crop. That still may be viable as I like how it actually enhances the near/far relationship with the rock and the downpour in the background. It also brings us a little closer to the storm.
Having said that, what you’ve captured and presented here is a bit more nuanced and I like it. Not really clear on the “rock plates,” which I think I see in the LL quadrant, but I see more of a channel, a “wash” where I can see water rushing down during a rainstorm. the main rock here anchors the scene nicely.
B&W looks good as well. I suppose you could do some selective dodging to emphasize the plates?
I quite like this one, Adhika. Good choice using B&W and nicely done on the conversion. The open/negative space David mentions actually works well for me, balancing the shellacked area and providing the leading lines. I would not change a thing.
This is really nice, Adhika! I’ve examined it quite a bit over the past couple of days and haven’t found any areas where I can offer any suggestions for improvement. Excellent composition and masterful processing!
Is it a good thing? I don’t know? I think a better question to ask is… Do the choices I’ve made for this photograph, both image capture and processing, convey what I wanted to share? If this does that for you then I would say it is successful! Thank you for sharing a lovey image.
At first I was thinking about that side, too which looks a little empty. But, the more I see it, the more I realize it as another leading line into the image (the other one is coming from the LL area).
You’ve got it, Lon, I was trying to describe the area in the LL corner.
This is an excellent point that I have gone back and forth for a few days. I eventually dialed down the dodging layer because it makes the scene looks a little fake with respect to the lighting condition.
That storm in the back is really something! I also enjoy the layers in the mountains next to it. Just like @Lon_Overacker I thought about a pano crop, to give these two elements more attention by getting them bigger in the frame. For me, the foreground then does not loose its effect, with the plates, stones and different luminosities still clearly visible, and a part of the composition. The nicely placed big rock also still works well.
Just love that storm, so I want to see more of it.
This is just excellent, Adhika. It’s a sophisticated subtle composition where you’ve brought together what appear to be very ordinary elements into a beautiful harmonious whole. Although the bg is quite dramatic the image is not about that. It’s really about showing the extraordinary in the ordinary. I’m not a very good b&w processor but it seems to me that the higher tones in that fg can be raised just a tad. Give it the AA treatment.
This is a wonderful composition. The mood is somber and inhospitable. I could see bringing up the whites just a tad, and maybe dropping the exposure, just a tad, to create a bit more drama. But that may not be your vision. It certainly works as is, too.
The easy shot here would have been the panoramic, the clouds and weather are pretty dynamic. And I’m usually biased against large expanses of negative space primarily used to place horizons off-center for that reason alone. But in the end I think this image does work well, and the reason for me is the 3 rock plates in the LLC. It’s the contrast of those plates in the LLC against the truly empty space of the LRC. That creates enough visual interest that the foreground “works” for me.
The rock actually doesn’t even do that much for me. This may be heresy, but I might even clone the rock away, and simplify this scene even further. Kind of a radical thought, but I think it lets the background speak louder, while at the same time emphasizing the plates even more.
I experimented with a panoramic crop but I felt like I am losing the effect of the plate/tongue coming from the center bottom and the negative space on the right becomes even more prominent.
I did play with dodging the plates as @Lon_Overacker suggested. I think it is not a major change, I could go either way. I have appended the original with the result to compare.
I think I would bring up the lights on the large rock on the left and the flat dirt on the left. The small rocks on the right have been over contrasted in my rework. I would back off on that.
Dodged the plates even more than your rework.
Burned the darker tones in the immediate vicinity of the plates (but not the LRC).
Slightly dodged the lighter tones near the virga in the URC to draw more attention.
I think the LRC negative space is fine as presented.
Thanks, @Igor_Doncov and @Ed_McGuirk! Good suggestions. I think I am settling somewhere in between what I have and your suggestions. My thinking is that this stormy situation usually results in conditions that are not too contrasty so I do not want to overdo the dodging in the FG. But I agree those plates could use a little bit more emphasis on the image.
Ed, I rather like what you did with the virga and I think that also addresses, to some extent, what others have suggested about making the storm a little more prominent.
Adhika,
This is what I was talking about when I mentioned in an earlier reply that maybe you could doge the lower right corner a little bit. There is already a faint, curved leading line into the image in the right corner but I just dodged it ever so slightly. Not sure if it makes it better or worse. Still, you have a beautifully processed image and I could go with any of them although I like @Ed_McGuirk version the best but it detracts ever so slightly from the minimalism that you might be going after. .
