Desert Teardrop (& 2 Reposts)

The perennial potholes in the sandstone expanses of the Colorado Plateau have been replenished thanks to a relatively wet year. Not more than a minute after taking this, the sun went behind the clouds for the last remaining minutes of the day.
And yes, this place has been photographed before, but could you pass it up with conditions like this?!

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

Wow, this is killer, John. The only dent I see is that the sky seems to trend towards green. I'd shift the blues ever so slightly toward magenta and away from cyan.

Thanks a lot, Todd! I brightened the pool of water just a tad, too. Any better?

John, Nice light on the buttes and composition. Todd mentioned the green sky. The adjustments to the sky and pool reflection help. The sky near the horizon seems a little green still. For the water basin, I would try lightening the shadows a little, adding some midtone contrast and a shot of your 15/50/.

What an outstanding photograph. The near-far composition has been put to use in such an unique manner. The reworked version, especially, is gorgeous.

Beautiful Image John. I think I'd prefer a version between the two in the second you can start to see the magenta shift on the outer edges of the clouds and in some of the whitest areas but there still is a little green in the hazy areas. Maybe if you made a midtone selection and applied the shift only to that? (or the opposite and just mask out the highlights.)

Great image regardless and I'm sure you'll get it to how you want it.

I love the comp and light here! Yep, the clouds should not be magenta in the repost It almost looks like you selectively worked on the sky--probably be better to get the color balance right for the whole image first, the fg colors look totally fine in both versions

Don't believe I've seen this in print before. This would make a great cover shot really like the composition.

Thanks so much for the helpful suggestions, folks! I'll take a closer look at this later and add another repost.

I tell you what this is a complex image with a lot going on, but you seemed to have been able to wrestle 90% of everything in very well. The Color casts or balance is a hard one to deal with, but I'd say this is still one heck of a wall hanger!

Awesome comp, John.
Joe Rogers

Awesome comp. No advice from me on how to fix that sky

Excellent!
It's always those little nits that take another eye to see. And, you can rely on the quality of eyes in this group to find them...and make the suggestions to solve whatever the problem.
Thank you John for all of your suggestions on my White Sands post.
And, thank you all for the suggestions and information.
Love the composition on this one John.
John, View this image with a black background and I don't think it needs any changes.
Dave

John, I love the comp, but I can't really add any suggestions to those already given regarding the color balance problems. I do have one suggestion, though. You might want to take a look at a version of this image where you've slightly boosted the foreground brightness and contrast. I suspect that would help bring out the texture of the sandstone wave around the teardrop.

Don't hate me but the thing I don't like about this is the pothole. This would be awesome if it were actually reflecting something interesting. I love the BG elements and the comp including the pothole is great, but the FG is just sort of blah. I think I'd like it better if it weren't so cloaked in shadow, if a little bit of light were shot through the striations around the puddle. I spent an hour an Natural Bridges NM in Utah shooting water-filled potholes and never got anything I liked. Weird since I usually drool all over your shots John.

Well, I can't thank you all enough for the fresh set of eyes and excellent suggestions!
And your honest input was greatly appreciated, Pam! Believe me, I value that more than anything.

Anyway, I went back to the original file and started from scratch, using many of your valuable ideas. If you aren't tired of seeing this, then any additional suggestions would be appreciated. This little community is simply invaluable...thanks again!

This last version looks way better with the changes made John

Nice shot, John. The final repost looks pretty good with the lighter foreground. I'm heading out this weekend and this spot was high on my list. I made it there twice last year, once just before all the water disappeared. I wondered it was like up there this time of year.

This is a tough place to shoot at sunset and it's great that you had something going on in the sky.

Congrats on getting a nice shot.

This looks a lot better. What was causing the green sky and what did you do to eliminate it?
Did you use a cpl that reflection of the sky off the water was blocked?

Much better!

From my POV, amigo, you've nailed it!

That last version looks very natural and quite excellent.

Beautiful comp - the last version rocks !

That last version is easily the best, making a stunning shot a jaw dropper!

Nice one, John! Last repost definitely works best. I can't help but feel that something is a little off-balance in the comp, though. My eye really seems to fall down to that lower left corner, and I almost feel in my gut like I'm about to lose my balance and tumble into the pothole. Don't get me wrong though, it's a beautiful shot, and if it makes me feel like I'm actually standing on the slickrock, then I reckon you really captured the scene.

Fun to watch and read this process. Way cool
Beautiful

Love it! Really nice capture, John. The last version of the image is definitely a keeper.

Repost looks great. Nice work.

Last Repost=There it is!

Great looking repost! Love the warm light in the background.