Cottonwood Road #1

Image Critiques Everything Else Critiques
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Cottonwood Road #1
Cottonwood Road #16000×3000 2.3 MB

This goes along with an earlier post “Cottonwood Road #2” (I named the photos in the order that I took them)

This photo of Cottonwood Road is quite a bit different than my previous post (Cottonwood Road #2). The road curves to the left, crosses a bridge, curves to the right and then left.

The things I like about this photo:

  • How the two parts of the road (foreground and background) aline.
  • The three hills in the background. You can see where the road tops each hill and can visualize it dropping out sight to see it going up the next hill.
  • The “V” notch in the farthest hill. (a cut in the hill for the road)
  • The bridge on the far left. I included it because I felt that it was an important part of the story.
  • The mailbox in the middle of the first curve.

Specific Feedback Requested

All comments are welcomed. Does this photo tell a story?

Technical Details

Canon 5D IV | EF70-200 @ 138mm | f5.6 | 1/250s | ISO 100
Processed using ACR and Photoshop

Learning from my previous post I made the following adjustments:

  • I used luminosity masks to adjust the highlights, mid-tones and shadows.
  • I used a gradient to darken the fog / sky.
  • I cropped the photo to 2:1 to reduce the over abundance of the fog / sky.
  • I used dodge and burn to accent the hills in the BG.
  • I cloned out a few distracting elements.
1 Like
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David, this is very cool. I like the foreground road veering off to the left and then the far road coming in from the left. Same road, too. It adds a bit of mystery. Excellent, moody B&W processing too.

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I like all the things that you mentioned liking yourself plus the way you offset the road to accommodate the curve, it balances out well.

I also like the gradient fog/sky, and the mailbox & driveway makes me wonder about the farm or ranch that they serve.

Another thing is that the fog, rolling hills and DOF makes this feel like it’s a fair distance to the farthest ridge.

Yes, in my mind this tells a story, and one that I can just makeup in my mind (always a good story of course) :slight_smile:

Well done in my opinion!!

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Thank you for taking the time to review and comment on my photo.

1 Like
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Hi David,

The pleasure was mine :slight_smile:

I wish I had looked at your Cottonwood Rd #2 image first. I thought this was in TX but now I know it’s in SD. I don’t know why I thought it was in TX, maybe because central to west TX looks a lot like this.

I used to live in Bagley, MN near Bemidji (northern MN) and I used to ride along with my dad to the Badlands years ago, I’ve been on this road a few times. :slight_smile:

BTW, I like the original version of your Cottonwood #2 image, I remember how bright the sky was during times of fog or heavy overcast with that Big Sky.
I also remember being able to see for miles and miles on clear days though.

Thanks for posting this.

1 Like