The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Taken in the Arizona desert. Those pretty, and also pretty mean Teddy Cholla cacti stick everywhere: on your shoes, your trousers, and also on your hands, if you don’t pay attention. They “jump” up your leg while walking and their barbs make sure, that you need a pincer to get them out again. If you pull them out, they take a piece of your skin with them. But it was worth it!
Specific Feedback
Is the saturation/color too much (I already pulled it off)?
Does the sky look convincing to you?
I want the lower half to be pretty dark, with the cacti glowing. Is it too contrasty now?
I think you’ve really nailed what it’s like to be in the desert at sunset! I lived there for 5 years but unfortunately didn’t get out into nature a ton. Kicking myself for that now.
I think you’ve nailed the lower portion of the image. Dark and contrasty! The sky could use a bit more luminosity if you ask me. It’s like the highlights have been pulled back too far but I also know it can be a challenge to protect those highlights around the edges of the clouds.
You found an amazing cholla garden!! I love the profusion of them in the mid-ground, leading the eye beck to the mountains. The sky doesn’t bother me, but it could be interesting to see a slightly brighter version. The FG strikes me as a bit too heavy in the black end, but it could be easy to get it too dull looking, too. I’m not sure I’d move the black point but maybe the Shadows slider could pull out a little more detail. But I can see detail there, so not sure if more would be good.
It’s a stunning capture of the backlit cacti. The one other change that I’d suggest (apart from David’s for the sky) would be to clone out that dark spindly “spider-legged” plant in front of the mountain range to the right. You certainly caught the decisive moment for this scene.
Hi Markus! This is a beautiful desert scene. I like the sky as is but perhaps a bit more brightness would make it better, as others have suggested, but I wouldn’t make much of a change. The backlit chollas are the star of the show and I think you handled the lower section very well. As David said, “Dark and contrasty!” To me it looks great as is. There’s plenty of detail in the darker areas, and the backlit needles look great against it. Well done!
