Jumping ahead a bit, this is from the second half of my trip to South Dakota. We got to Badlands the day before an early-season blizzard came in. We were supposed to be camping in the park, but temps in the 20s and heavy winds made us get a hotel, but it was beautiful to see the park in snowy conditions. This is from the day of the storm. I love the way the snow filled in the drainage cracks in the rock.
5DII, 24-105 @ 84
f/8, 1/200s, ISO100
TK curves adjustments, added a little canvas at the top.
Here’s a slight re-work de-emphasizing the snow patch on the left edge.
Craig, this is a most intriguing image, the way the snow fills the cracks creates a beautiful abstract pattern. And there is an interesting secondary abstract pattern in the snow covered hills in the background, one which complements, rather than distracts, from the pattern of the snowy cracks below. The processing looks good, I like the contrast of the clean whites against the rust colored badlands,
I think the image works well as presented, it tells a nice story with a sense of place in unusual weather conditions. I can see a second image extracted from this, more of a pure abstract that crops away the sky. I see a second image that looks like this.
I am really enjoying the abstract qualities of your image Craig. I like the contrasts in the foreground against the more subdued backdrop of the mountains.
Craig,
This is really a wonderful scene, as the others have mentioned I echo the abstract nature of this one. The colors and tones look spot on for me. I see another abstract of just the snow tentacles as well.
Craig, I really love your original post…the background white sky adds so much to the atmosphere. This is a striking scene and very unique. Nicely done!
Craig, a beautiful and intriguing landscape. Very minor but I might burn the snow patch left edge about 1/3 up from the bottom. It is a bit bright than most of the other snow and pulls me a bit out of the frame. Quite a nice image!
Excellent image. Now that Harley has called our attention to the brighter patch, it directs my attention to it. There are many possible images within this image. I, too, say “well done!”
Ed, I figured that someone would suggest cropping the sky, and I tried it when working on the image. I do like it without the sky, but I often don’t like the pano format, and I don’t like it here.
Harley, I burned down that patch, and cropped just a little off the left to help minimize it further. It initially drew my attention because it wasn’t thin like the rest of the patches, so your suggestion to de-emphasize works well, I think.
Craig, I like the first post a lot, there are stunning dynamics for me in your composition and the mentioned snow patch is not distracting me at all. I think you did a great Job with the juxtaposition of the near and distant elements. Furthermore, the monochromatic character just makes it Special for me.
What a unique and dynamic winter landscape. Can’t say I’ve seen anything like this - although we’ve all certainly seen gullies, crevasses, whatever… but to see them filled with snow intertwined with the dormant winter landscape AND to have the mountain backdrop… all works to pull together a wonderful image.
Other than Harley’s catch with that snow patch, no nits or other suggestions from me.
This is very much my kind of picture. I prefer the original and Ed’s crop equally. I reckon the brightness of the snow in the original feels just right. Ed’s is more graphic but I like the format shape less. I guess you could stretch the frame a little but I personally wouldn’t do that as I think that is beyond the limits of acceptable PS work.
Tremendous image…very unique. I like Ed’s crop, but the original (more subdued snow patch) is probably my favorite. Really enjoyable image. Thanks for sharing this one!
Oh, this is so beautiful. The sense of depth is perfect, conveyed both by the colors and focus. The colors and textures are perfect, also. The mudcracked texture with the fingers of snow is especially lovely.
This is spectacular Craig. I love the lightest skiffs of snow that collects in the drainages in landscapes like this. You did an amazing job with the processing, getting just enough color in the foreground hills to set them apart and give them some warmth.
The little snowfield on the left is a distraction for me, and I would be inclined to crop it off or, if it is consistent with your personal ethics and artistic practice, clone some other sections of hill over it. I am sharing a crop just so you can see. I see why you didn’t crop to keep the distant mountain more intact, but it’s worth a look.
@Marylynne_Diggs, thanks for this. I didn’t prefer the crop idea, and I was originally feeling lazy about cloning the snow patch out. Since it did bother me, and many others as well, I decided to take the time to work that up.
Inspiring… I have been avoiding snowy days down Factory Butte direction here in Utah… and if it is really windy… then I cant fly my drone. It is no wonder I have missed anything like this and it is very compelling. Need to change my thinking I can see.
