I did a bit of wandering around the badlands of Death Valley and I found it amazingly tough to isolate compositions. The landscape can be beautiful, but not necessarily photogenic. Throughout the area, I was drawn to all the different shades of brown and I tried to convey that here, along with the feel of the tortured landscape. It is an understated image and I am curious how it works for you.
D810, 70-200mm
It works wonderfully Harley. The tonal range in the beige/browns gives depth and structure to the hills and the subtle blue tones enhance the mystery of this unusual but beautiful landscape. I love it and have no suggestions for improvement.
I think this works very nicely. Understated is a good description, and this is nice because it is understated. The temptation is to boost contrast and saturation, and I am glad you took a minimal approach. I like the hints of blue.
I have no suggestions. This is spot-on as it is.
-P
Lots to like, Harley. Another image where the scale is hard to judge. You say it’s difficult to isolate comps, but I think you know well as I that it’s much easier at longer focal length.
This looks to have been shot from the Zabriskie Point vista. The soil there is almost pure yellow as I recall. I like how you processed this. The composition is really good imo. I like that horizontal line going across the image like that. My son used to love running along those trails along the crests. The dirt is pretty soft but the DV park doesn’t seem to mind. Yeah, those eroded hills are amazing. They look like fingers extending toward you. This might be good in b&w as well. Tons of compositions to choose from.
Harley, a wonderful look at this extensively eroded area in DNVP. It is very plain in tone and low key, but the almost tree root patterns “rooting” along do hold my interest. It is amazing how many centuries have past in grooming this landscape into this collection of undulating hillsides…
Harley,
Understated perhaps, but beautiful and striking none the less. I think the hints of blue/cyan throughout really make this work as a color image - along with the fascinating detail and patterns of the eroding desert.
If I had a small wish, it would be for a little more room up top. Only mention because of the small, curved ridge line in the ULC. It’s like I either want to see more room above that, OR cropping to eliminate. However, cropping any more up top isn’t an option. No biggie, but if you have more up top in an uncropped version, I’d wish for that.
I agree with Bill that isolating with the longer lens can often times make finding and seeing these intimate comps a little easier (easier isn’t a good word though…)
Beautifully seen and captured!
Lon
I’m with you on trying to isolate compelling compositions. To me, there are still too many competing “lines” in this image pulling me in different directions. Given that this image is about all those lines and shapes (as well as colors), I think it’s possible to crop tighter in order to make some of those lines more dominant and work together to give it a more unified flow. I’ve attempted just one such crop.
This is a fine composition as well.
Nicely seen, Harley. Looks like you had a productive morning when I went off to the dunes. I think the composition works very well as presented and like the subtle processing. If it were mine, I’d either clone of darken that trail in the central area.
Harley, this is a great abstract look at these eroded hillsides. While it’s a totally different scale, I find that isolating good comps. in an abstract takes time and lots of subtle adjustments. This view works well, with the bright lines of the ridgetops, especially with the foreground ridge leading in from the lower right. The bit of subtle blue in the upper left adds some extra interest that helps balance the brightness in the lower right. I think the colors and contrast are excellent.
Harley, For me this works great! I like this comp, actually I like both of them very much. You did an excellent job isolating these compositions even though it was tough to do. The light, shadows and tones in this are very interesting and it is beautifully captured. Nice work!!
I like the image quite well and it looks very real in it’s understated form. While I would be tempted to push the developing more, given the muted colors you had to work with, I’m not sure it could be improved by additional processing. I do find the vertical crop in the comments interesting also.
