The Rectory and Castleton Tower in Castle Valley Utah. Another tripod hole type location that benefits from a fresh coat of snow. This was taken during a January 2016 visit to Moab, Utah where it snowed four out of the eight days during the trip, which was wonderful. Snow in Red Rock country can’t be beat. The shadows here were quite blue, and I warmed them up enough to leave just a hint of it. This image was taken late in the afternoon and I was worried that it would warm up enough to melt off the snow, but it stayed in the 30’s all afternoon, which allowed me to get this shot with the snow.
Going back into the archives since I haven’t done much photography since November. Digging out some old winter images.
Happy St. Patricks Day
Specific Feedback Requested
any critique or comments are welcome
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Canon 5D MK3, Canon 70-200mm f4 lens at 145 mm, ISO 100, 1/20 sec at f16
It’s great to see landscapes like this from the States. So different from what we have here. The scale and geometry are incredible, as are the colours. The snow really elevates the picture for me.
The shadows look very natural and I wouldn’t be able to detect your hand anywhere in the processing, which I suppose is precisely the idea. Very effective for me.
My only suggestion would be to crop a little off the sky with the objective of holding the eye in and drawing it down into the patterns and colours of the lower central portion of the frame. The break in the clouds makes that challenging though and, in particular the proximity of the highest peak to the top of the cloud. I think cropping to cloud level is too tight and those peaks need breathing space.
I think the image works as presented but my eye is drawn immediately to the central peak rather than being led through the details below.
Of course, these are subjective and minor observations and we work with what we’re given.
Beautiful scene. I cropped out the grasses and find I much prefer it. I find the red/blue contrast far more impactful that way and I don’t find the grasses really add anything. But that is me. Looks great.
Gorgeous scene, Ed. My only nit was with the blocked shadows at the bottom rocks in the image, but after reading @Harley_Goldman 's suggestion I tried that and found I liked that as well. Then I played with a crop off the left side to reduce some of the open space there and liked that also. So, basically, I just snipped and cut and dodged a bunch and I think I kinda like what I ended up with. Of course, all of that is subjective, so you and others might not agree, and that’s cool.
A stunning image and interesting suggestions. I wonder about two other alternatives:
Lighten the blue sky so it blends in with the clouds better, but I would hate to lose the blue as it sets off the gorgeous shadow tones.
And/or darken the FG grasses so they blend in more with the rocks.
Friends from Germany visited us a few years ago and they were so excited to experience American culture. We finally convinced them that, compared to Europe, we don’t have a lot of culture but we do have a lot of spectacular rocks.
Happy St. Patricks Day
