Any critique and comments are welcome.
This is a photo of Balancing Rock at Valley of Fire State Park. Can’t get much more humanoid than this. I really like this big guy. The sun was intense and coming from the wrong direction when I was there taking this photo. Unfortunately, I only had a short time there and couldn’t wait for the lighting to get better. I hope to get back there when I can have more time to spend.
Chris, I know the feeling of having to photograph in harsh light because that is all we have at the time. I had that issue a few years ago traveling with my husband and an older couple. I felt blest just to get to see iconic places in our National Parks, even if the lighting wasn’t ideal. I like how you have the human standing in the image, it makes for a nice juxtaposition. I wonder if a bit of saturation or contrast would make the rocks seem a bit more red, and help with the harsh lighting. I am not good at this sort of thing, I rarely get to do landscapes anymore, in fact, the trip out west that I mentioned back in 2014 with our friends is the last time for me. I really like the composition in this and the human factor.
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That is one big dude! Good to have the person in the image for scale, too. You made the most of the light you were stuck with. Good entry for the challenge.
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Shirley, thanks for your comments. I’m glad you got to see some of our National Parks. I’m retiring the end of June and plan to take road trips to some of them. Hopefully, will go back and have another try at this guy.
Wishing you the best in your retirement. I have enjoyed mine for some years now (able to retire when I wasn’t quite 53). Looking forward to your images.
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You did an admirable job given the light. In fact, regardless of light. How does that rock keep from falling?
Chris, this is (was??) a fine sighting. The rock figure and the human figure work together very well. Mid-day light is really good at saturating colors. In this case, the hazy distance lets your subject stand out very well. From a processing point of view, a bit of burning-in on the bright face of the formation on the left at the base, would give it some more color, however, the reduced contrast might not let your subject stand our as strongly. I also like the bits of shrubbery at the bottom.
Thank you very much for your great comments and for taking the time to post them.
Chris
Definitely a humanoid pile of rocks here, Chris! Nice job with the composition and exposure, especially considering the difficult lighting. The real human beside it is perfect for a scale reference too.
Thanks, Gary. I lucked out with the guy standing next to the rocks.