Water, rock, trees. Water, rock, trees… rinse, repeat. I am most certainly a creature of habit.
I LOVE this wall in the Merced River canyon. Captured and shared many images from here. A new discovery this past weekend. Do you see it? I immediately saw a ghoulish looking cat perched on the shelf with a very long “yawn”. Maybe it’s not what you see. I also see little faces, several of them if you look around.
I have numerous comps of this, some closer, some wider, H/V. This one is kind of in the middle.
As always, your comments, critiques and suggestions welcome.
You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
Processing of course. The color/sat is a little more than reality. Too far? Too warm?
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
I have a tighter view. Wondering if you think this one should be cropped? Too much at the bottom? And if you don’t see the cat or any other interesting features, does this stand on its own?
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Nikon D800E, Tamron 70-200mm/2.8 @160mm. 3-image focus stack at f/11.
Note: Note sure a focus stack was even necessary as the same single frame at f/18 looks real good. So the only real advantage here would be if the lens performs better/sharper at f8,9,10 or 11, then stacking should produce an overall sharper image. Which it did, but only noticeable if you pixel peep. No difference with the web versions.
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Nice find. I can see many things in this. I like the saturation. The cat is obvious to me-first thing I noticed. Perhaps a bit off top. I like the bottom, The rock formation just below the cat looks like a shadow or reflection of the cat.
Great looking rock portrait. I would toss in with the top crop group, but still looks really good as presented. You have gotten quite a few from this area over the years.
Lots to look at here, Lon, again and again. Took me a while to see the cat but I do see a skull in that area to the L of it. The whole effect of the image, with its streaks of yellow, ochre, grey and white, and its textural qualities is delightful.
What a find here Lon, this is one of those images that I enjoyed taking the time to study. All the shapes, textures and colors are wonderful. I don’t see a cat as much as I see Munch’s “The Scream”. But that’s one of the great things about abstract images, it gives one a chance to exercise their imagination.
With an abstract like this, I think one can get away with colors and saturation that are not how they were in reality. On my monitor this is slightly more saturation than I prefer, but when I downloaded it, I noticed that it had an embedded color profile of Adobe RGB, instead of sRGB that is normally used for web viewing. That may be why it looks a little too saturated, you may want to look into it.
I also like how much space you have at the bottom, i would prefer not to see any cropping on this image.
Lon, I was wondering where my cat got off to…
I like it, although, I can also see it as more of horned owl maybe?
Anyway, I could see a crop from the top down to the top of the first rock layer above the cat and or owl. I think the consistent color of the rock framing the alcove really makes the main focus of the subject immediate. Regardless, a neat find with a variety of options to think about for changes maybe…
I would take a look at the point Ed makes on the color profile. Hard to understand why the “Save For Web” missed the sRGB unless it fell out of being flagged maybe…
@Igor_Doncov, I can’t say I recall “Big Daddy says bull.” But I do recall Burl Ives calling the kids at the dinner table, “a bunch of no neck monsters”…
Thanks for the comment folks. Yeah, there’s a equally interesting crop here. And I even have a wider view for more wall context. As so often is the case there seems to be a mixed opinion on crop/no crop or what to crop. Thanks for the feedback!
@Jim_Gavin, Yes! I thought the same thing about the rock below the cat. Thanks for mentioning!
Thanks @Ian_Wolfenden. Yeah, I see a skull, an alien and quite a few other things that makes this so interesting to explore.
@Ed_McGuirk. I think “The Scream” is a better description. And thank you so much for pointing out the missing sRGB color profiile! Doh! And @Paul_Breitkreuz, you nailed it as it did fall out of being flagged in the Save for Web dialogue. I’m pretty sure what happened, and who knows how long it’s been this way? Actually just did a quick check - and I believe it’s been since NPN 2.0 came to be! I recall now that I created a “JPEG 60” preset in the Save for Web dialogue to go with the recommended jpg settings. Apparently I never checked the “convert to sRGB” box! Thank you so much for noticing Ed!
And finally, @Igor_Doncov and @Paul_Breitkreuz, I got my movies mixed up! Yes, the title reference is correct, but it wasn’t until you mentioned Liz Taylor that I had to scratch my head. For some reason, it was the movie “Street Car Named Desire” that I had been thinking of… “Stella!..” (Which has nothing to do with cats…)
Yeah, Lon. I can see it once you mentioned it. I see a crop from the top I think would work nicely, just to below the top shelf that’s broken off on the right, because it simplifies it. But agree that there are lots of options.
Cool! You do have a lot of great images from this wall. I have stopped there a number of times and just can’t seem to pull from it the same quality of compositions. and that holds true for other rock wall abstracts I have tried to capture as well. I think I have one in my entire portfolio that I think is successful!
Regarding this one. I think the original comp is excellent. But I also find that the crop off the top simplifies it more . And then maybe the title could read " Cat in the Window"!
I recognize this wall ; o )… What a gorgeous and unique color palette. It reminds me of a piece of modern art. The crop works fine but obviously the options must be endless. Personally I find the top third especially compelling with those two horizontal bands.
Indeed. Here’s a wider perspective of “the wall.” I think this shows maybe 50% of the exposed rock on this wall. The possibilities are endless which may explain my ritual for stopping here…
Wow, one could spend a lifetime shooting that wall.
Great title! The processing should definitely support that. I think the broader crop fits the notion that you are looking up at the cat from a distance. I experimented with the cropping a little, but I think it just took away from the idea evoked by the title. The warmth of the image is also very fitting.
I really enjoy this image. Great colors and texture. The only suggestion I have would be to slightly deemphasize the rock in the extreme lower right corner.
I’d also like to add that the thought of a cat being completely indifferent to the fact that it is melting gives me a good chuckle.
A rock face that can be seen daily in different compositions with different light to bring new visions and perspectives for each viewer. Love the color tones and shapes you presented here, but I really don’t see the cat! My vision today must be cloudy!
