Zabiske Point is one of the most photographed landscapes in Death Valley. The promontory of Manly Beacon calls out to have it’s photo taken. However, if the photographer focuses on small parts of Manly Beacon, wonderful abstracts appear in the viewfinder. This image is of the base of the monolith.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
After taking an image just as the sun caught the tip of the monolith, I began to search the area for some interesting abstracts. My eye was drawn to the triangles, diagonals and muti hues.
Would any cropping be of benefit, any manipulation of the temperature scale, any enhancement of colors. Any other suggestions.
Technical Details
Nikon D850 camera with Nikon 80-400 mm lens @ 220 mm. ISO 64, f 11, 1/13 sec. Processed in Photoshop
It can be a challenge to create an image in Death Valley that does not feel like it’s been done many times before. I think you have succeeded. The geometry and range of colors are very nice. As is I see some cool/warm color contrast between the area lit by the sun versus in shadow. I wonder if pushing one or both of those further in a cool/warm direction would help achieve what you are looking for. Another suggestion is to experiment with dodging/burning. The brightest part of the image is in the ULC, which might pull the viewer out of the frame. Burning that area and dodging the illuminated areas in the middle might help counteract that.
Thank you for your suggestions. I tried separating the monolith tip by burning in the backroad which quite bright, having received full sunlight before any illumination of the peak. I will tinker with t he temperature differential
Hi Paul,
that’s a beautiful shot of a fantastic landscape. I often see pictures from Death Valley, but I’ve never been to the US. I love all those textures and different colors in your image.
I have the feeling that your picture has a very slight green cast. So I downloaded your beautiful image pulled dragged some sliders in ACR:
I dragged the Tint slider in the Magenta direction (+12). This has two effects in my opinion: treating the green cast and letting the nice violet colors of the rocks pop.
I tried to fix the very bright area in the ULC with the Clone Stamp Tool, as it distracted my eye
I cloned out a very small area at the bottom edge.
I added your original image here so that you can switch back and forth:
Wonderful to move around and find this composition! There is a strong sense of depth and dimension. I love the warm vs cool contrasts. I like what @Jens_Ober did, and his crop.
