Dead Horse Point, UT. This old tree seems to give new meaning to "hang on". Not much done to this, minor curves, slight vignette effect to bring the eye in (I hope)
Hey Dan - I really like the character of the twisted juniper trunk, and the way that the juniper is growing back on itself. Nice light on a beautiful background, too.
Is this film or digital RAW? I think you could strengthen it with a slight boost to the saturation, mostly on the cyan channel to lend some oomph to the sky, and a slightly smaller boost on the master channel to bring out the richness of the colors in the rock. Nothing extreme, but I think there's room to bump it up a little and still have it looking very natural.
NIce shot, i agree with Rick's suggestion, also might want to consider a lhs crop, since most of the elements are on the rhs.
Posted by Nat Coalson on August 26, 2007 at 10:31 AM
Dan - nice work, to me this has good balance because the oval shape of the top of the tree remains balanced with the larger expanse of blue sky on the left. Though I might agree that just a small crop on the left might be an improvement (although this might cause difficulties with the aspect ratio)
Overall the tones look a bit flat; a curve adjustment a a tiny boost in saturation might help.
This is a very calm, serene, stable composition.... the kind of image I really like!
I like this one as is, but would be interested in seeing a little more saturation.
Posted by Dan Gerth on August 27, 2007 at 12:24 PM
Sorry about the earlier SNAFU on the repost, had a pilot error problem. Anyway, got back in town, reviewed the comments, and agree. I have a tendency to leave images undersaturated for some reason. I'm aiming for more of a "watercolor" feel, but obviously I'm not getting there. I've incorporated the suggestions, and came up with this, which I think is an improvement.
thanks for the constructive criticism, it's making me think (which hurts).
Posted by Grant Collier on August 27, 2007 at 3:35 PM
Hey Dan,
I think I'd shoot for something in between the first and second posts, as the second one is now looking oversaturated to me. You might also try the vibrance slider in Lightroom, as that can sometimes give a more natural appearance than the saturation slider. And you can mess around with the more selective saturation adjustments under HSL in Lightroom. For this shot, you might try boosting the green colors of the tree a little more than the rest of the shot.
Posted by Jesse Speer on August 27, 2007 at 4:03 PM
Very, very beautiful Dan. Wonderful composition. The 2nd one looks fine to me on my screen. I haven't seen anything like this from Dead Horse. Extra credit points for finding your own view!
Discussion
7 repliesdan
Is this film or digital RAW? I think you could strengthen it with a slight boost to the saturation, mostly on the cyan channel to lend some oomph to the sky, and a slightly smaller boost on the master channel to bring out the richness of the colors in the rock. Nothing extreme, but I think there's room to bump it up a little and still have it looking very natural.
Nice shooting!
Overall the tones look a bit flat; a curve adjustment a a tiny boost in saturation might help.
This is a very calm, serene, stable composition.... the kind of image I really like!
thanks for the constructive criticism, it's making me think (which hurts).
I think I'd shoot for something in between the first and second posts, as the second one is now looking oversaturated to me. You might also try the vibrance slider in Lightroom, as that can sometimes give a more natural appearance than the saturation slider. And you can mess around with the more selective saturation adjustments under HSL in Lightroom. For this shot, you might try boosting the green colors of the tree a little more than the rest of the shot.