Ainur

I worked on this shot from a trip to the Buckskin Gulch in 2017 and I am at the point where I think it’s good enough to share and get some feedback from you guys, especially your thoughts before reading the motivation and concept behind this image below.

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Any

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

The inspiration for this work comes from “The Silmarillion” which begins with:

There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones […] and he spoke to them, propounding to them themes of music; and they sang before him, and he was glad.

Some of you might have read about my Tolkien project. This passage which describes the creation of the Tolkien universe is something that I’d love to use to open the series. Admittedly, this is a very hard passage to translate into an image. A few years ago, I went to the Antelope Canyon for the first time. The guide told us the different “shapes” on the wall (I remember something about the Indian chief head or something?) and it made me think of using abstract images for these difficult passages.

When I went to the Buckskin Gulch a year later, I was grabbed by this particular formation on the wall and it reminded me of this passage. I want to bring in the dynamic and the energy from “music” described in the text. I see the face of an Ainur and music coming out of its mouth.

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
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I have looked at this essentially as an abstract from the rock formation, Adhika, and I like what I see very much. There is for me a sense of the merging of the forms, the one coming out of the darkness, the other bathed in light. My only query is whether cropping just a little off the bottom might make it even stronger - not sure.

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Adhika, I am very much enjoying the lines and light on the right side of the image, but find the composition very left heavy. I played with cropping about 1/3 off the image on the left side and prefer it, but I am not sure how that would play with your vision of it.

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Adhika, I really like the sharply defined border where the two rock walls meet, the shapes and lines in that area really grab my attention. I think the processing looks great, exposure and contrast look good and the subdued saturation creates a very natural look. In terms of composition, I agree with @Harley_Goldman, I would crop 1/3 from the left, and end up with essentially a square composition. While the horizontal lines on the left create a nice lead-in to the lit up area on the right, I think you can crop away some negative space on the left, while still retaining enough of the leading lines.

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Adhika, I am familiar with all of Tolkien’s work and the Silmarillion quote you site. I commend you for taking on such as challenging interpretive project.
For this scene my reaction was similar to @Harley_Goldman and that it was heavy on the left side and a square crop might be a stronger image. I really like your treatment of the light, it is quite subtle but effective.

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Adhika, a very fine rendition from this locale in Buckskin Gulch. I feel the lighting and textures came out perfectly…:+1:

I do believe the suggested crop is a very viable idea. For me it’s not only the bit of in-balance it is more of the lack of tiered surface or texture there on the left. So, not a nit at all just an idea for another look for comparison to see if you like it better over the original presentation…:sunglasses:

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Thanks, guys!

I did toy with the composition a little bit and even has some vertical shot of this particular formation. I do like the square crop that @Ed_McGuirk mentioned. But here is the sketch which I am basing the composition on.

@Alan_Kreyger, since you read the Silmarillion, you might be able to relate. It’s probably obvious that the face is my interpretation of the Ainur and in the book we read how they sing everything into existence and the idea of the space on the left hand side is to represent that. There is sort of a crescendo in the shape/line to depict how creation essentially makes the universe bigger and then there are these “holes” on the rock that stand for the created things. Also there are parts of the striation that look like a musical stave to me. The relatively clean space above the nose line represents the void that has yet to be filled.

I am torn because I do like the square crop as well but am afraid of losing some of the elements that make up the story.

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There’s nothing wrong with having two alternate versions of this image. The as presented one for your LOTR project, and an alternate square version that stands on it’s own. I think they can each effectively serve different purposes.

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