I think it’s definitely interesting. Perhaps it’s a matter of taste, but for me, I would find it more compelling either a) as an abstract with the water cropped out or b) as a landscape oriented image with the water about a third or fourth of the image, which would confuse our sense of scale and make the title even more apt.
Hi Dom, I’m a real fan of images where nature is reclaiming the land after extraction/industrial impacts and this is a fine example. I love the tones and textures of rock and the plants bringing the query back to life. Showing more of the reflection would also make for an interesting composition but I don’t think it takes away from the one you have shared with us. Well seen and processed!
Thanks for this @Marylynne_Diggs - I have played about a bit with cropping out the water but think I prefer it with. But we’ll see, I often change my mind about these things down the line!
Thanks @SandyR-B , I have played with cutting out the water but prefer it with for now. I like the inky blackness of it. That said,simplifying is almost always beneficial so may think differently down the line. Thanks for the kind words, love finding little scenes like this, look forward to returning to it at different times of year.
Another vote for the interest of this subject Dom. It has a fascinating flow of lines and a nice magenta/green complement of colors that stand out against the subtle blue/yellow of the wall.
That little tree cut off on the right snags my eye a tad, but if you crop it out your balance would likely be thrown off. I don’t know if it would have been an option to include a little more of it?
When I simplify the rock revelations though, i start to see a face—actually more of a samurai with a topknot and a sword. Not sure that’s in keeping with the feeling you want to evoke. I find that a face like shape is distracting unless it’s the point of the image. It’s easy to reduce that impression by cloning out one eye .
Of course, the original is compelling as is. No pressure. Clearly it’s interesting if I keep fiddling with it myself.
Nice image Dom, and I would also be attracted to this scene. Assume you played more with adding more water in a composition, as it would be interesting to see more of the water reflection. I enjoy the vertical tree coming out of the rock, which directs the eye to the horizontal branches above, then turn down the angular crack to the vegetation and water below. This allows one to continue to explore all of the colors and patterns. The tree branch poking in on the right is a little distracting, which could be darkened or cropped out.
@John_Williams yes you’re right, that tree does snag a bit. I’ve tried to tone it down a little in the following update. I don’t have a wider version unfortunately. In the field I wasn’t really sure this image would ‘work’ so I didn’t take that many variations on it.
@Marylynne_Diggs thanks for taking the time to have a play with it. I hadn’t noticed the face but now it’s all I can see!! I like your crop but I think I prefer the vertical, I think having the branches at the top help to keep you in the frame a little.
@HarveyAbernathey thanks - hopefully I’ve improved the branch on the right. in the edit below.
A few tweaks in the version below and I’ve changed the crop to a 3x4 to include a little more of the water and also an interesting crack at the top of the image that I’d cropped out before. I’m torn on whether I prefer this crop or not.
What an interesting image. I have to be with this one for a while. I see a lot of comments and therefore conclude that others are captivated by it as well. My initial sense is that version 2 is better.
Most intriguing. As with Igor, for me, this one bears more than a quick fly-by, but my first impression is a preference for version 2 - I like having a bit more of the reflections. The colours are other worldly - the quarry has trashed the landscape and yet there is something of beauty to behold, nonetheless. In that way it reminds me a bit of Burtynsky’s photographs where he finds extraordinary and paradoxical beauty in ecological destruction. Well seen.
Thanks Kerry. It’s a very interesting area, since taking this (and a few others I haven’t shared yet) I’ve been researching other quarry locations, I’m hoping there may be a series or project in these images.
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