Badwater Tempest

nice range of contrast and very moody sky. I like this. I like how vivid it is.

Very cool shot Sarah. It is sort of unconventional in its tones but works well especially the use of line and foreground interest.

Mark

Thanks for taking the time to comment, Mark and Jared. I appreciate it.

Mark, what do you mean in terms of your comment about the tones? Dark clouds on a light sky?

I think you interpreted Mark's comment right, Sarah, as that's my sense too. The black frame lets the white sky work perfectly, but with B&W, black sky/white clouds are usually the norm. The sky, however, makes for a strong image as it challenges our preconceived ideas and we realize that this does work.

I see Tony's point, but as he says, it works well in your image, I like lots of your B&W work

Your badwater collection is among the best and most extensive I've seen Sarah, and this is a nice addition. I really like the detail in the FG, the comp/proportions, and the patterns/textures in the pools. The ULC is a bit odd for me. I don't know if it's as much a distraction or just the fact that I usually don't see a sky rendered in white as TK mentions? You might also experiment with a midtone layer for the clouds/mountain peaks to see if you can lighten those whites just a tad. As is, I feel that my eye jumps from bright FG to bright sky and unfortunately skips right past those peaks.

very nice b&w and i like how the FG element mirrors, in part, the clouds. my only concern might be the relative brightness of the sky and parts of the salty flats - there are parts of the salty flats that are as bright as the sky. it does make for a graphic image though and that works.

Hi all - thank you for the comments and suggestions for improvement. I am going to play around with darkening the sky so that it competes less with other parts of the composition. I appreciate the feedback!

Good use of lines and good foreground.

Love the foreground and those remarkable textures. The dark, almost brooding clouds make for a stark contrast with the foreground which I really like. I can see the value of others suggestions to darken the sky somewhat; would really emphasize the outstanding foreground.

Now that is a unique and creative take on the place. Very interesting processing.

Guy

Love the foreground and think it's strong enough to stand alone, almost as an abstract. Or even when I scroll down to remove about the top 2/3 of the sky the image seems more intriguing. I adore Death Valley.


lucy