The photographer has shared comprehensive information about their intent and creative vision for this image. Please examine the details and offer feedback on how they can most effectively realize their vision.
Self Critique
For me, this image is about the clouds seeming to soar over the sculpted rocks of the Alabama Hills, as well as the lines/triangles in the clouds/sky, in contrast to the curves and rounded shapes of the foreground.
Creative direction
I did some rather complex masking to dodge/burn , hoping to achieve a balance between sky and foreground, without going too heavy on the contrast.
Wow that’s dramatic! I can only imagine the wind and sun. I wonder though at the lightness of the land if your intent is for this to be about the sky. Maybe a bit less of it and with less exposure would work. Could be a wider view from a higher vantage point would be another idea. Lots to experiment with for sure.
I like the extensive use of masking to get just the look you want. Things have come a long way in Lightroom!
HI Mark, Your image as a ghostly feel to it which I think is neat. Looking at the sky, the left side under the clouds is empty sky, while the right has nice striated clouds. It might be worth the effort to try cloning in clouds to balance the right. Also, I tried out @Kris_Smith’ idea about lowering the whites on the rocks. I think it works. I used PS with Tony Kuyper’s TK8 plugin. First I used a zone mask and selected the bright area of the rocks and then intersected that with a Lights 1 mask (using the mask calculator) after blocking out the sky with a black brush. There are a number of ways you can achieve the same thing as in LRC.
Wonderful sky and feeling to this image.
