I’m sure I’m not alone, having my world flipped upside down overnight has left me feeling less than creative lately. This image is from a February trip to Death Valley. I think it is definitely worth the bumpy road to visit the playa racetrack.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
I left the clouds on top brighter to give a sense of where the sun was and the time of day, is it too bright?
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
I like my images very dark and moody, I’m thinking of going darker with the blacks and midtowns but not sure it this image needs it.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Single exposure
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Hi Andrew,
This one works for me. I typically see the “Lone Rock” composition of the playa. The one time I visited, there were so many people that nothing was lone and rocks were already called for
The bright sky works for me as well. It’s relatively low in detail, and not so bright as to distract. The one distraction for me is the grouping of rocks or people midway back on the right side. Not sure what you can do about that, and it might be my own experience of the place playing tricks on my eyes.
And yes, the dulling of my brain as a consequence of too much news, none of it good, has affected my creativity as well. When I do dip into my catalog though, I get a wonderful sense of relief and control. Creativity is the balm of the soul, afterall.
ML
Thanks so much @Marylynne_Diggs!! I appreciate the feedback. We got lucky, midweek helps, with not too many people around. It took me a long time to find more than one rock that fit into a composition. I debated whether the rocks on the upper right helped or distracted, looks like they are a distraction so I’ll probably remove them.
Turning off the news is helping bring back the creative juices.
I saw several images of these rocks at the Visitor’s Center and even tried to take some myself. This is quite different. Usually these images play off the bright yellow of the track vs the blue of the sky. I like this multirock approach as it gives a feeling that they’re coming towards you. There is a sense of motion. There’s almost a sense of impending danger as well, as though you are being pursued. Perhaps I’m being carried away with my imagination.
I could imagine part of this being darker. If you could darken the right side, something like a half vignette (don’t know if that doable), you would have a lighter center and the creatures would seem more ominous.
Now that I think about it this has a science fiction feel to it. A place for aliens.
The brightest part of the sky might look a bit too bright. If I do a scroll crop off the top the mood changes. No, I like it as is.
@Igor_Doncov thank you so much for your feedback, I really appreciate it! It took me forever to find three rocks that worked in the composition but I was determined. I’ll give you darkening thoughts a try and see out that works.
P.S. get carried away, I like your imagination!
Sweet shot Andrew. I don’t recall ever seeing three sliders in one image before. The main rock to the left looks like it has a dragon’s tongue (the shadow) with a blast ring around it. Very, very cool. The other rocks create good depth and balance the image nicely while leading the eyes towards eh snow capped mountains. The rocks in the background don’t bother me at all and just makes it more real to me. I would try and balance the sky just a little bit by bringing the brightest parts of the sky on the right down. Wonder what an abstract of the mud tiles would look up close. Never been there. Worried I’d get a flat and not make it back. How was the drive? DId you rent one of the jeeps to do it?
Great image.
Thanks for the feedback @David_Haynes! Glad you caught the “dragons tongue”, I burned the shadows so they were more obvious.
I took a few abstracts of the mud cracks and will post later, they are very cool.
I drove my 4Runner, no major mods except upgraded suspension and one size up in tires. Definitely make sure you have a full size spare for the drive.
what a brilliant idea to to include multiple sailing rocks. And I think B&W has more impact here than color probably would. I like the idea of making the sky bright, but would tone it down slightly. I agree with @Igor_Doncov about darkening the right side, although i would darken just the dark tones there. I would also do some localized dodging and burning to accentuate the trails. And, its a personal nitpick, but I’d clone away the very tiny rocks at the base of the mountain on the right. Here is a rework reflecting my comments.
Real nice take on the Racetrack. I might add some contrast to the sky but otherwise, I quite like it as presented.
I have been out there several times and it surprising how fast people drive the road. There are a LOT of very sharp rocks and fast makes them that more efficient at puncturing. I have seen a lot of flat off road tires and even one punched oil pan on a car. It is an easy but bouncy road driven slowly.
Thanks o much @Ed_McGuirk! I went back and forth many times about those rocks in the upper right, one minute I don’t mind them the other I can’t stand them.
Thanks for the feedback @Harley_Goldman! I saw a few cars that didn’t have a good amount of clearance and no skid plates, I kept thinking those rocks would be deadly on an oil pan.
Hello Andrew
I really like your picture. The texture of the cracks looks great. I really like the composition, the multiple rock trails leading to the brighter mountain in the back. I think darkening the sky will make the mountain pop up more.
Great work!
The choice to go black and white works very well for me, and I too like the multiple tracks. It helps a lot that they are uneven, and break the image into rough thirds.
Great ideas above, and I’ll add a couple more to play with to find out what you like. I believe the real “star” is the foreground, and the mountains and sky are the supporting cast. You might play with reducing the brightness of the sky so it doesn’t rob from below. I also like a small contrast bump to the foreground. Toning is highly personal, but I really like the way that adding a bit of blue and cyan can give a “silver” effect to bright reflections of light. Here’s those thoughts graphically:
Fabulous capture and take away from the Racetrack. IMHO, that road out there is only worth it if you can come away with something like this. I was there ONCE, and came away disappointed, so for me the trip wasn’t worth it… So heading out there is a crap shoot… and you should feel very fortunate to have come away with this one - and I hope others!
I really like Ed’s rendition as the playa really comes alive. The great news is that you’ve got the base image , composition, light, etc. and this could be interpreted many different ways.
The composition with the multiple rocks, tracks and the placement of everything in the frame makes for a great image. And I suspect a great print!
Thanks @Juan, I appreciate the feedback. Seems the consensus is to reduce the brightness in the clouds a little. I originally though that too but wanted to keep a little more contrast there.
Thanks @John_Williams, I appreciate the feedback!! You are correct, the rocks and foreground are the stars. I thought I went pretty heavy on the contrast there but it seems the feedback is more won’t hurt. Thanks again.
“IMHO, that road out there is only worth it if you can come away with something like this.” @Lon_Overacker, I couldn’t agree with you more! This was my first trip out there and I can’t say that i’m anxious to do it again anytime soon. Even with a truck equipped for it, it was a rough drive. It’s an amazing place but not sure it’s worthing going again, there are so many other areas of that great park. Thanks for the feedback on the image, now to work on a few more.
Excellent composition - it really does give the sense that those rocks are coming at us fast. One thing that caught my eye was the difference in luminosity between the track of the main rock and that of the next nearest rock. The latter is much brighter, and it feels odd that the main track is dimmer. Here’s a version with a slightly brighter main track, also with increased contrast. I also darkened the midtones and lights around the LLC to make the main rock stand out more (and darkened the upper right sky). Anyway, this is really great.
Emotions Felt: This image feels very harmonious and love the black and white depiction in this. I wondered at first if this was golden ratio at all but doesn’t seem so. But, the three objects with negative space and lines is super pleasing to my eye.
Technical: Love the contrast you have in the image.
Hi @andrew_hertel, i love this shot. I like composition and post process except the LB part, it’s too bright for my eye. I would add some vignette of dark the part. The leading lines created by the rocks are very nice. Thanks for sharing.
