Arizona Twilight

Hi Gang,

Took a business trip last week to Phoenix so I had my nights free to shoot where I could. I was driving around east of Phoenix when this super-color sky materialized with the classic sliver of a moon. For me it was a thrill to see, but from a photographic standpoint, is this image too plain and uninteresting? I'm fine with C&C, it's a joy when someone's honest. I realize this image is probably Common 101 in Arizona!

BTW, the sky kind of cruddied up when I reduced this down to fit the 200K limit, the original is smooth.

Comments and reposts welcome. Thanks!

Paul

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5D Mark II
100mm/2.8
Handheld, no filters
Levels and Saturation edits, no crop done

I love it Paul, nice and crisp and simple and evocative. I want to change the comp but am not sure how. It feels that the moon and big saguarro are too close together horizontally maybe. It's nice to think of deserts when the snow is on the ground. Thanks for sharing.

Plain and Uninteresting? Not in my book!! I might crop a little off the top and right side but other than that I think this is a fine image. Nice gradient and silhouettes!

Not uninteresting at all. I don't mind how close the main saguaro and moon are. Neither are quite in dead center so I think it works as is. Despite the jpg compression, the tones still look pretty gradual. I'm sure the original file is even better!

Very nice Paul. Simple graphic image and its very effective.

The composition works fine for me. I just love the color gradient in the sky.

Thanks guys, appreciate it. Funny, Bill said "I want to change the comp but am not sure how.", and that's exactly what I thought when mucking around in post. But everytime I tried a crop, the scene lost its bigness. So, I left it uncropped for now. I did send it to Costco for a 20x30" print on the newly-installed Epson 7880 they have there (I figured for $8.99 what's to lose!), and it came out better than I had hoped for. At that size the comp seemed a little more settling.

Anyway, thanks!

It's not too simplistic for me! I'd say it's a great minimalist image. Might be a little static without the moon, but with it, it's perfect.

It's not too simplistic for me! I'd say it's a great minimalist image. Might be a little static without the moon, but with it, it's perfect.

Sweet shot, perfect as is! The color gradient is awesome.

I like this. Alot. You could maybe try a vertical crop with the moon in the UL portion and the big saguaro cactus in the LR portion and see how that looks.

This is a beautiful photo. I live in Phoenix and while we have some spectacular sunsets, this one ranks right up there with the top ones. I love the simplicity. Great job!

Thanks all. I hesitated posting it, thinking it was too cliche. I tell ya, this was very little effort, the sky was doing all the work. I bracketed but only used one image, it had all the info. I suppose I could have grabbed the moon from a brighter exposure, but for once I wanted to get an uncropped, as-is shot like in the film days. It's not totally pure, I did boost saturation to about +12 I think.

Cassandra, Phoenix is so photogenic! Come to Cincinnati in January and see what we have to work with... lol! Just FYI, I was out east on Shea Blvd near the road that heads to the casinos when the sky lit up. I was driving hoping to find an elevated shot of the valley, but this one will suffice!

Reminds me of my childhood home and times growing-up. Wonderful colors. I think the suggested crop is a good one. Otherwise, print it and hang it up. Thanks for sharing.

This is very nice! I might like it a tad more if the camera was panned down a tad, leaving more black at the bottom of the image, but that's a minor nit..

Paul...this is awesome!!! Beautiful colors and your composition is perfect!!

What can one say...right place, right time, and being able to see it and having your camera with you to capture the moment. Beautiful image!

The moon makes this image come together dynamically. Nice image!

That is a darn fine image.

I agree simple but great, nicely captured.

Very nice Paul. The moon makes the shot.

Seems like a classic Arizona shot to me. Well done.

Love the simplicity, great work.

How can you lose with silhouetted saguaro cacti, a beautiful sky like this and that moon?
Well, you can't! This is pure eye candy.
Certainly something pleasant (and warm) to stare at during the deep, grey Ohio winter!

LOL! Good point... "deep and grey", yep that pretty much describes it! I'll remember this post when it hits 7 degrees with a wind chill of -4.

Love it!

This is really nice! I like it a lot. I think it would also work with a small crop from the top.

I also like this one a lot. I would suggest a crop from both sides, so the biggest cactus and the moon remain in the photo. Thanks for posting.

I only have 3 words for this.....WOW!!! WOW!!! WOW!!!

Less is more, at times. Certainly the case here. What a wonderful image of color, with just enough context to make it scream "Southwest".

A bold choice to use such a big sky - and a successful one! You may also consider a vertical with the dominant saguaro and moon.

Just adding another pat on the back. Really nice! My wife (Tucson native) is pretty critical of these shots and she really like this one too. Classic southern AZ.

Well, y'all made my week, I didn't think I'd get 5 people that would respond after seeing some of the amazing work on this website. I guess we're all pretty critical of our own stuff! So it appears this one's a keeper... I'll play around with some cropping and see how it goes. I appreciate the confidence boost from everyone, I was feeling like I was in a batting slump there for a while...

The sliver of moon is priceless; that's what separates it from 'common 101'. And I agree that this captures the essence of the southwest. That, along with all that negative space, could make for a great magazine cover here. You might try shopping it around if you're so inclined. Nice work!