Monument Rock with reposts

This was taken Saturday night as a storm approached Monument Rock. I was setting up the camera when my girlfriend pointed out the cloud formation forming above the rock. This ranks as one of my favorite pics. I'll post later what my gf and I saw in the clouds, so as to not prejudice your idea of what form is in the clouds. After the storm hit, we had to slip and slide our way to the main road, barely 1/4 mile away and bone dry. I would like suggestions for a title, and also input on how it might be improved.

Canon 30D, Sigma 17-70mm, 1/30, f/11, ISO 100, some crop for composition

Thanks, Rob.

Nice job with this one Rob. I like Monument Rock and the wonderful colors & shapes of the clouds. I would suggest cropping the top down to a 2:3 ratio which really emphasizes the dragon and tightens up the comp. Well done!

Nice shot Rob! I don't know about a title for the photo but the headline could read "Huge Dragon Spotted in KS". As far as improvement try cropping down like Wayne said and try pushing the contrast up with an S curve adjustment. I think the colors work great here. You might get 2 sets of complimentery colors if you push them right.

Tim

Great catch with the clouds, Rob. This is such an interesting place to photograph, and clouds make it all the more exciting! Nice job.

Good one! See what you think about a vertical crop, with a bit trimmed off the left (enough to remove the small bits of cloud along the edge), and the right cropped just enough to remove the two blue clouds. I think shortening up the butte that way makes it appear taller, or at least makes it more of a vertical element in the composition rather than a horizonal one.

How about "Dragon's Nest" for a title?

Thanks for the input. I hadn't thought about a vertical comp, but it does look like it'll work, and in someways is better than horizontal. I'm horrible about titles, but "Storm Dragon" keeps coming to mind. I'm also glad others are seeing a dragon, and not just us :). Thanks again, Rob.

Here are 2 versions that I printed up today, in an 8x10 crop. I can't decide between the horizontal and the vertical comp. Does the frame work? Any suggestions for improving framing? I use PSP 11 for editing.

Here is the vertical version.

Another question: Do the pics look light, or dark and gloomy? On my uncalibrated monitor they look dark and gloomy, but they printed lighter at Wal-Mart.

Thanks for looking, Rob.

Rob:

Who would have thunk that such a stunning rock formation would be out in the middle of Kansas? This is one of only three places I missed and really wanted to get to during my 43-state trip around the country shooting scenic areas for a book back in 1995. I've always wanted to get up really close to this, filing the frame with rock and window, and having a large expanse of sky show through the window - probably could even fit the entire dragon in (did you try that?). I'm headed to Zion this year to catch the fall color in November (another one of the spots I never made it to at the right time during my book trip), and hope to have the time to detour and have a look at this great window rock. Do you think the dragon would still be hanging around then? This is a wonderful shot no matter which crop you use - keep up the great work!

And yes, this shot does look dark and gloomy - just the way it should be! If either one (you or your printing service) does not use a calibrated system there is really no way of knowing what the prints are going to look like compared to your monitor. If everyone's system is calibrated then you should match pretty close...

Rob, great work on both crops. My preference between the two (keep in mind I have a vertical eye) is the horizontal crop because it gives a little more sense of scale and the dragon has more room to "fly" into on the right. Great stuff, keep up the good work!

Yeah, of the two I like the horizontal better. Too much good stuff is lost in the vertical.

Wonderful image Rob, certainly not going to see a cloud dragon everyday especially over a great rock formation like this. Nice work with the crops and like most I think the vertical is a bit better, giving the dragon some breathing room. Nicely done!

David

I visited and photographed this location several years ago (no dragon, though). I think I prefer the horizontal too. Especially since the formations follow a horizontal line. Your photo is a great testament to "being there".