Monument Bows

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to go to Monument Valley with a group of photographers from Prescott. We made arrangements to go to Teardrop Arch, but the guide's truck broke down. So while having an early dinner at the View Hotel, monsoon clouds bought nice rain and rainbows over the valley.

I would be interested in your preferences and of couse any suggestions for crop and processing on any individual images.

#1 taken from the restaurant porch. Handheld.

#2 After dinner, the rain showers moved towards the Mittens. A steady stream of cars could be seen driving out from the valley (some bright headlights and white cars cloned out). Unfortunately, the rain and rainbow was between the hotel and the Mittens.

Edit- looks like there is some highlight/shadow haloing around the mittens to fix.

#3 On the drive out to the Totem Pole, we stopped to get the rainbow over Elephant Rock.

#4 When we arrived to the our view of theTotem Pole for sunset, I was scrambling to get shots before the rainbow vanished.

#5

#6 Last one.

These are great. You must carry a leprechaun around in your pocket to get this many rainbows! Some of these, especially #2, look a little flat. Might benefit from Levels, Curves adjustments and / or John Mumaw's Unsharp Mask trick with settings of 10-20%, 50 pixels, 0 levels. Colors look a little funky on the last 3...maybe too yellow? Might also try to experiment with tighter crops on some to give more emphasis to the rainbow. I'd love to see a zoomed in shot on #2 of just the West Mitten and rainbow if you happen to have taken any. Okay, that's probably too much feedback but these are good enough that I think a few of your faves could benefit from more time post-processing.

Grant, I do appreciate the detailed feedback. If an image is worthy of the trash, that is worth hearing also. Currently, there is a significant gap in my lenses due to breakage from 35-70 mm. Not having a lens in that range was definitely noticed this trip.

Doug, from the standpoint of composition/balance, I find the last three most pleasing, with #5 my favorite.

Doug,
I would be proud to call any of these mine....good work, in one of my favorite places.
Joe Rogers

Grant, I have one of just the West Mittten, but the rain in between obscures the color and detail too much. Here is a different one of the valley with more light on the floor. I had overlooked this one while processing earlier, and like it better than #1
Thank you Joe and Bill.

These actually look a lot better on my NEC monitor, so I take back most of my comments. I thought my other monitor was good but I may need to recalibrate it. Not sure if I like #2 or the last one better. #2 is the only one that still looks a little flat to me, but I think I might prefer it over the last one with a levels adjustment and a little crop on the left edge.

"You must carry a leprechaun around in your pocket to get this many rainbows!"

My thoughts exactly, Grant. You're the luckiest guy I know, Doug! Good thing you missed Teardrop Arch, eh?
As far as I'm concerned, #5 is the one that I would print and frame. The rainbow is in the perfect position and you can see plenty of it. The monoliths are nice and large here, as well. Great catch!
#6 is a good example of capturing a foreground when one wasn't really needed. It also succeeded in making the monoliths look kinda puny and a secondary part of the image at the expense of that brush. Not a good tradeoff at all. Good thing you got #5!
My next favorite is #3 because of the prominent 'bow arcing over the rock and the sheets of rain on the opposite side. It could use a slight contrast/saturation bump, IMO.
Next is the classic view of the Mittens (#2). Grant's right...it is pretty flat to my eye. A healthy contrast bump really makes it 'pop'.
Man, how long did that rainbow last?! You sure got around while it was there. Congratulations!

Got to disagree with my good friend, John, somewhat on image #6 although it makes a stronger comp IMO if you crop it about half way up the bush where it is not so prominent. A slight vignette would help draw attention to the formations.
Joe Rogers

For #3, I jumped on the contrast and an additional 30/50/0 and blended in the mountains.

Much better, Doug. The rainbow and streams of rain really pop now.

All those rainbows and not a single kitten or unicorn? Excellent conditions and excellent images!

Doug, like John, I like #5 for a big enlargement and hanging on the wall. Next time I'm visiting the Valley, I've gotta remember to drag you along for luck.

I'm trying not to hate Doug...trying, but you keep pulling these crazy rainbows and unicorns out of your pocket. =) Like the rework quite well man.

Really nice series Doug! Holy sh&% how many rainbows did you see??? I think 3 and 5 are my favorites

Wow ! they are excellent ..

Thank you for the helpful comments. Now if I could convince that leprechaun in my pocket to leave his pot of gold

Woah! Those are ALL incredible! But #5 stands out to me as the absolutely perfect winner.

Beautiful! Like the wider view in the last image. Great light and color as well.

Wow! I thought I was lucky with the rainbow I caught when I was out there, but you caught how many? Very sweet set!