Geologic Eye Chart

Here is the wider view just for reference.  This either ruins the experience of the image, or gives  you a better perspective to appreciate?  This is a hand-held 4 image pano from my Lumix pt-n-shoot.  I've highlighted the approximate image area.

BTW, any geologists in the group?  I'm not trained, but I have figured out that I'm pretty sure this is metamorphic type rock AND that this rock pre-dates the granite found some 20 miles to the east in Yosemite Valley.  I think maybe my PHD buddy Mr. Birdwell may have ID'd this for me previously, but I forget... ;-)

Lon: This is really good vision on your part and an excellent capture. I can see why you can't pass it up. Looks like there are infinite possibilities of which this one is superb. Most excellent.>=))>

Lon, This is very cool looking. At first look I thought the diagonal line through the middle was a water line and the lower half was a reflection. Really love the colors in this. It is also very cool seeing where and what you made this image from. Good you were paying attention and didn't get the corner of the sign in your frame...Nick

A little geology first.  These rocks are some of the oldest in the Sierra, dating from the Paleozoic, in the Western Metamorphic Belt, and are known as the Calaveras Assemblage. The assemblage is composed of dark siltstone sedimentary, and metamorphosed volcanic rocks. (Notes are from Northern California Field Guide, K/H Geology Field Guide Series, by John Harbaugh, 1975)

The Paleozoic rocks in the Calaveras Assemblage date from between 542.0 to 251.0 million years ago). This contrasts with the Yosemite granites, whose rocks were emplaced 84 to 94 million years ago, during the Mesozoic-cretaceous period. If you are interested in the Geologic Timescale, here is a nice chart from UC Berkeley.

Now, to the image...I certainly feel inspired by your images from this spot, and this is one of the best. The details and color are excellent. The  diagonal cracks in contrast with the steeply tilted sedimentary beds give this an abstract feel. The processing looks spot-on to me. Well done, sir!

btw: I am not a PHD, I am just an old rock junkie, who Harley would say I am as old as the rocks themselves.
--P

 

Fantastic, Lon.  Your composition, out of the infinite number of possibilities (made all the more obvious by your pano of the area), is superb.  Those criss-crossing diagonals, back and forth across the frame, lead the eye throughout the image, exploring all the gorgeous colors and textures, tones and details.  The complete absence of foliage really adds to the graphic appeal.  Love everything about this image.

I've always enjoyed your images of this wall, Lon, but this one seems to be your best of these. Wonderful colors and abstract pattern. 

This has fascinating lines, color and texture.  I can see why you keep coming back.  I can't think of anything to critique so I'll just say this rocks!  

Love this abstraction of the rock walls, Lon.  It's an outstanding collections of colors and lines.  From the wide view, it's easy to see how this would be hard to drive past without stopping every time.  The colors really pop in the larger view.

Well seen, Lon. I love the texture of this wall. This wall could be a perfect subject for a photo project.

Mattia

Wow, very unique abstract. Almost looks like petrified wood. The color palette is amazing.The vertical streaks and horizontal fissures make this comp. very intriguing. Well seen.

I love rockscapes, and this one is a beauty for sure.  Such a grand variety of colors and textures.  A slight nit, and this applies to several of your latest images - they appear a wee bit dark on both of my monitors;  I might suggest brightening them up a bit, say 10% or so.  I wouldn't say anything if it were doing this on just one monitor but it's that way on both.  You might ask others for their opinions before doing anything.

You certainly did well isolating this section from the whole wall.  The mix of lines, angles and colors not only looks good, but tells a story.  Well done.  I may be over there this spring, so I'll remember this place.

Really nice. I can see why you love this section of rock!  Was this a result of road excavation or natural? To have a little fun, I may try to boost some of the red and green in this to a see what I can find (Kuyper badland style). Just for fun though. I really like this shot as is, with the thoughtful composition of layers

HI Lon,

WOW, this image is stunning when seen in the large view. I love the range of color in this wall of beautiful rock. The colors rally are very intriguing, and then you have the patterns of colors along with the horizontal lines creating a very stimulating scene. This would be killer on a print from Nevada Art printer on there Lumachrome hd acrylic prints.

Amazing work Lon!!!!

I wanted to thank everyone for their comments and observations.  Especially Mr. Preston for my geology lesson. We'll have to chat more about this some time.

@Bill, good call on the darker presentation. Looking over my posts and some other feedback I would agree that some are a tad on the dark side (ignoring the fact that the 720 orig postings always seem darker than the separately uploaded large version - but that's a different topic.) 

@Navin, yes, it would be easy to explore more color and saturation.  Even what's been presented, you can see from the pano pt-n-shoot image that the wall is eve less colorful than my image post. In fact I even pulled back on the reds and yellows and used TK's saturation painting to selective back off some of the saturation.  But for sure, the colors present could certainly be explored and exploited on this wall.

Oh, also, I'm not 100% certain, but I believe this wall was altered by man probably in the construction of the road.  Just a few steps behind where I stood to take the pano, there's an embankment that drops in to the Merced, dropping down maybe 20 ft or so; so this stretch is narrow and I'm sure they did some blasting. There are what I consider blast holes in the wall, but again I'm not 100% sure.  

Great comments and observations folks!

I have seen this wall before, in your images and in person. Real nice abstract from there. I might burn the top center light area a bit, but otherwise, looks darn good. 

Nice geology lesson from Mr. Birdwell, too. 

This is fabulous Lon.  The wider view simply impresses me further.  I doubt I would have seen the possibilities here.

I like this as presented and agree with others that the processing looks great.  I can imagine a slightly more pano crop that would omit the top right deviation in pattern.  It reminds me of a butterfy wing and eyespot and pulls me that dorection.  It might make for an interesting alternative to omit that top section all across except keeping the left and right edges at the corners.

This the third image of yours that I have seen of this wall, and it's the best. They always remind me of cubist paintings made in the 20's. The stacked horizontal layers hold this together giving it a cohesion and makes sense out of it. I strongly suspect that this wall was the subject of Anil Rao's series of 'Fractures'. I would move in closer and compose abstracts that are simpler in design. In addition to the dominant browns there are some rich yellows and even blues that could be used as elements for a composition. 

If im not mistaken this spot is right before that one lane bridge with a traffic that crosses the Merced. There have been trips where I've come back with better images here than in the park itself.