An image of mud with all kinds of textures going on in Utah. I am pretty happy with it, but like to post in the critiques gallery for better discussion.
Any
Any
Nikon D610, Nikon 70-200mm. ISO 100, 102mm, f/11, 1/25 sec, on a tripod
Absolutely gorgeous colors and a wonderful abstract, a slight crop off the top to remove the two rocks maybe (they pull my eye out of the scene) but just nitpicking, well done Brent
Very interesting, Brent. Colors look like bronze sculpture. I tend to agree about the two rocks, as they are a little different from the rest of the patterns. I’m wondering how this might look bringing up the shadows a bit. Maybe just me but it seems a little contrasty.
Beautiful image and sweet light. I would also agree about the crop, but still looks real nice as presented.
What a superb mud abstract, Brent. The colors are gorgeous. That said I might dial back the blue sat in the stones just a tad. Framing is fine as presented but you could crop a sliver off the top to clean up the border edge.
@Reno_DiTullio @Bill_Leggett @Harley_Goldman @Dave_Dillemuth
Thanks all! I think you’re right about the crop. I will either do that or stretch the image vertically a bit to keep the 2:3 aspect ratio. I tend to make images contrasty and blue, maybe I went too far this time! 
A couple of other comments. I agree with the cropping comments, but mostly because those 2 rocks are already partly cut off by the frame. It appears that you put in a deliberate vignette to deemphasize the textures around the edges. There is quite a contrast between the textures/shapes in the middle (dry mud) and those on the outside. If that’s what you want, then the composition may work with adjustments to lighting and contrast. I’d recommend also to explore an even tighter crop (primarily just on the mud) which will give you and very different and more abstract image (which may not be what you want).
A really neat find Brent, it has a very metallic sheen to it. I actually like the blue/contrasty look. I downloaded it into Photoshop and warmed it up, and to me that caused it to lose some of it’s impact. I guess I like some of the purple/blue colors. The upper left corner, and the bottom look a little too dark to me, not sure if it’s vignetting added in post, or shadows that were present in the scene. But i think a slight dodging in those areas would help. Nice work…
Brent,
The term has already been used, but I’ll repeat, Gorgeous color? Not only is this a fantastic mud-crack image, it’s a bit unique and the color/contrast really set this one apart.
I too took a look in PS and was initially thinking a crop as well. But quickly discovered that pretty much any crop (or change in color/sat) that the image impact changed and was reduced right away. So for me, I think the answer would be some content-aware cloning of those offending pieces everyone seems to be mentioning. Perhaps even a very slight crop off the top to remove the dark gap top-center would minimize how much cloning would be need.
But really, other than minor tweaking along the top, this one is a keeper and should be destined for a metal or acrylic print…!
Lon
I agree with @Lon_Overacker that cloning the two rocks would by my preference to a crop.
I really like the colour contrast in this image with the cool tones transitioning into the warm tones.
Great find and capture
Magical mud and light! I love this, especially with the mix of colors, textures, and transitions. I agree with the comments above about the rocks and the dark spot on the top edge of the frame (I do not mind the smaller rock but agree that the bigger rock on the left is distracting and interrupts the flow of the composition). Otherwise, wonderful!
Very nice variety of texture and light and the diagonal flow makes it more dynamic. A nice construction of an up-close subject.
Thank you as well @Rick_Alway @Ed_McGuirk @Lon_Overacker @Nathan_Klein @Sarah_Marino @Tony_Kuyper! P.S. Tony - I use the heck out of the TK panel on all of my images. Thank you so much for making it.
Though I agree about the rock and dark spot at the top, I’m generally in the same camp as Lon. Every time I make a change I seem to be less satisfied with this image. Maybe I’ve stared at it too long now.
A straight crop, stretch, or warp didn’t look better overall to me. The best I’ve come up with is a very small crop, and a very small selective warp of the rocks and a little bit of cloning out the most distracting part of the rocks. Is this an improvement? Feel free to download the jpg and give it a try yourself too 
Love the color, love the light, love the subject. I agree about the issues along the top that have been mentioned. Your repost addresses that.
Well done. I like the image as is. I don’t have an issue with the rocks at the top. My eyes are drawn more towards the ‘comet tails’ on the lower half of the image which seem to hint at something outside of the picture to the lower left. I especially like the tails on the group of rocks on the lower right corner.
Thanks Chris and Cameron!
Funny, I thought the lower righthand corner looked like comets/meteors too! If I had my macro lens on me I bet I could have made an entire image out of just that. It was a backpacking trip though and carrying 2 lenses was already killing me
Beautifully done Brent. Love the interplay of light and shadow. The various patterns and textures look very inviting.
Brent, I love where you’ve taken this image and would love to see the unedited image to see where this image started. Any chance you could post it?
