Hand of God Repost

I am enjoying the strong shadow/highlight lines combined with the lines within the formation. The prints do give it scale, but I think I find them more of a distraction than an enhancement. It is a nicely crafted abstract that works well in B&W.

The large version really opens up the shadows and had a lot of really nice texture.
I am on the fence on the tracks, I know they are all over the hills there and do lend a nice presence to the landscape.
I might try a version with them cloned out in this frame though as they do detract from the excellent textures and shadows.

ML, the telephoto lens pulled an amazing abstract out of the landscape here. I have to "hand" to you, a nice job of seeing it. This image is just so graphic and  abstract, that I think the tracks inject an element of reality here that takes away from the abstractness of the image. This image is so strong that my eye wants to keep wandering across the shapes and tones, but I can't help but getting pulled back to the tracks since they are the only "literal" element in the image. It would be tedious to remove them, but I think it would help.

The shadows and blacks look good, but I feel again like the highlights are a bit bright and could be pulled back a bit. Assume you are still trying to use Lightroom to wean yourself off Nik SE.

More than The Hand of God this looks like The Toes of God. I have to say this one doesn't do it for me as much as the previous one. You could raise the blacks a bit. You could also darken the reds to bring out those horizontal lines. 

Really nice use of light and shadow here, Marylynne. Wonderful velvet like textures that just make me want to reach out and touch this. I like the comp you came up with here as well.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Hi Folks,
Thanks for the feedback and honest assessments.  I really appreciate it.  I wouldn't post here at all if I thought I would get "nice shot" kind of replies. 

On the tracks: I am posting another version with the tracks miraculously healed for the most part.  I think I maintained detail despite all of the clone/heal tool.  Let me know if this makes the image more interesting (i.e. with fewer distractions) and changes your overall thoughts about it.

On the highlights: There was a very odd phenomenon along all of these ridgelines that created a much lighter line of soil.  It was a windy day, and we had received snow a few days earlier.  My geologist friend and I debated whether the sun was drying the ridgelines faster, whether the snow had melted or blown off the ridgelines sooner, or whether a combination or some other factor was creating this tonal variation in soil.  I have been to PH a dozen or more times and have never seen this.  In a wide, color view, it created some interest, and my friend captured that as did my cell phone, but it did not strike me as a photogenic characteristic, though it is certainly unique for the area from a scientific perspective.  I'll post a totally different image below for a better view of what this looked like.

Anyway, here are the hands and/or toes of God without the blasphemous tracks!
ML

 

And here, raw with no processing except conversion to jpeg, is a color version of a wider view so you can see this unique soil drying phenomenon.
ML

I like it better without the track. With, I found myself spending a lot of time following the tracks instead of enjoying the image. 

I do like the repost without the tracks better...

Marylynne,

This is fantastic!  Hand of God, yeah, I see that.  My first thought was more prehistoric, like the foot of a brontosaurus.... but the impression is quite similar and notable. 

The details in the large view are excellent. But it's really the lines and play of light and shadow (as often is with b&w) that really make this one stand out.  Great job with the processing too.  Just the right amount of detail in the shadows and the contrast is just right as well.

Great vision and crafting of this one.

Lon

This is excellent, Marylynne. Wonderful shapes and textures. The repost looks great.

Your repost with the major tracks removed does look nicer.  A slight crop off the bottom to remove most of the shaded area in the lower right might be worth a consideration.

Thanks Doug and Dave.  I have been toying with that bottom layer of shadow, and might lift it rather than cropping.  It doesn't add, and it does increasingly distract me.

Thanks for the suggestions,
ML

I have to confess that I do like your reposts better, even though (as a biologist) I enjoyed the tracks in the original.  However, as a more abstract image, the reposts work better.  On second thought (actually third thought) I enjoy the details with the tracks too much to just through them out;  I am trying to think artistically, but the biologist in me just won't let me let go of that!  You did a wonderful job of isolating some fascinating details with the telephoto view, and your decision to go to monochrome enhances the forms and textures.  What I fascinating area.  Seeing your impressions of it make me want to visit it.