Zion with moonflowers

When I was in Zion in mid-September last year, there was a good amount of jimson weed or moonflower blooming. This is one of my favorite flowers in the southwest but I generally found it difficult to compose. On my last morning, I walked up behind the hose stables and found this. This was captured after sunrise, but clouds on the eastern horizon blocked the light from reaching the canyon walls. I decided to give this a very cool feeling as if it were under moonlight.

XT, 10-22, probably a 3 stop GND.

Hi Mel. Are you looking for C&C here. If so, here it goes. Overall, the photo is nice, but I think it can be improved. Comp-wise, I feel that there is too much empty space in the middle of the photo. In terms of light, I would dodge the cliffs a bit. The colors look too green to me. I would also warm it up a bit. I like the clarity and the depth.
Thanks for sharing.

Hi Mel, you might try reposting a warmer version? The composition is interesting with potentially good foreground subjects. Not being there at the time, it's difficult to suggest improvements. Possibly moving the camera down lower might reduce the negative space in the middle - at the same time allowing the blooms to dominate more. Moving it slightly to the left might eliminate the dead twigs and right-hand bloom. The tree is is also leaning out of the frame - crop it out? Your 3 stop GND worked well to balance the lighting. I also really like the diffused lighting.

Ken

I'm thinking of heading out again this year around the same time, so yes I was looking for suggestions to improve this concept. I think the reason I did not go lower was that I was trying to capture the bee in the flower. Thanks for your input.

For those who don't know, the moonflowers open overnight and a flower usually lasts for just one day. They have an amazing sweet scent, but are also toxic.