This was the last frame of a magical 3 hours starting at pre-dawn in Anza Borrego. After a bunch of scenery and flower scenes, I found myself looking at my feet at mud tiles, plants in their niche, and this. I suppose the critter leaving the track was a beetle, but if so, what happened to the beetle? Did it find what it was looking for? I did!
Specific Feedback Requested
Do you find this a bit engaging for more than a quick look?
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Processing was limited to cropping and dodge/burn to increase the minimal contrast in the sand. Some sharpening, especially ULC as it was not in sharp focus.
I did find it engaging for more than a quick look. I love little beetle(?) tracks in the sand, especially when they just stop. Maybe it flew off. It feels sort of flat overall to me. To give it more depth, I tried cooling it a bit (to bring blue into the shadows) and increasing the lights. What do you think? I got the idea from watching @David_Kingham’s Color & Tone videos.
I know what happened to the beetle. The shadow of the plant on the right looks like a spider, and unfortunately the beetle tracks end where the spider had its breakfast. That’s the story I imagine here anyways.
What an intriguing find Dick, it’s an excellent nature abstract and story at the same time. I definitely find this to be engaging, thank you for sharing it with us.
I like what you did to the tones. Trying to create a feeling of variety in the contour of the sand was my primary processing work. I will apply that technique a bit.
A very cool and interesting find, Dick. I like the way you framed this and the horizontal format showcases it perfectly. This certainly tells a story of life in the desert that I find very engaging. It does make you wonder where did the critter go.
I like the idea of using temperature to add some depth or r interest to the sand. Mine was uniformly warm. To my eye, your illustration was a bit cool, but gave me a push. Here is where I am now – see the re-post
