The Best Laid Plans...

I took this shot on Jan 2nd. Temperatures were in the mid 20's and the foggy conditions created a frosted look across the panhandle. I decided to go down to Palo Duro Canyon hoping to get some unique images of frosty desert vegetation contrasted against the red / orange rock of the canyon. Unfortunately, as I descended down into the canyon the frost only came down about 100 ft. I decided that I didn't get all dressed up for nothing, though, and I hiked to the Lighthouse formation. This shot was taken very near the lighthouse formation. I like the way the rim curves around in front of the butte. I'm not so sure about the cut-off tree but there wasn't much I could do about it. I think this would make a nice sunset location as the butte would be in a good position to receive some nice light as the sun goes down. I am interested in your thoughts about the composition. Obviously the light could be more favorable and the sky is void. One nice benefit of the overcast conditions was that it did help with the saturation of the color of the rock. I appreciate any comments you might have.

D700
Zeiss 35
f11; 1/160 sec; ISO 200

Nice location but wrong time, wrong atmosphere, etc. for a real breath-taker.
That the way it goes with photography.
Be there is the key. Light, shadow, storm, morning, evening. Takes a lot of time that most of us don't have.
I use NX2 and I think you could use it or a simliar program to pull out color ad contrast in certain areas and create something a lot better.
E-mail me and I'll copy this photo with your permissiion and show you what I mean. You may already know.

the fisch

Sometimes you just gotta go with the flow. I wonder what mono would do? Sometimes bland overcast gets spiced up in b+w.

With the flat light we're certainly not seeing the full potential of this place. The composition isn't moving me too much here but I think that has more to do with the light than the composition itself. Sunset side light sounds promising and worth another visit Brian.

Brian, regarding the composition, it seems the green tree is competing for my attention. When I view this with the bottom fourth cropped, it suddenly feels like a stronger image. Palo Duro Canyon looks to be a terrific place.. your photo makes me want to visit.