The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Who can pass up a good mud crack? I find that capturing ephemeral features in the landscape can be very rewarding. On the way to Death Valley a few weeks ago I stopped at the Trona Pinnacles for the night. On the way out in the morning I was diverted to a nearby pond by some reflections and discovered this tableau along the shoreline. I really liked the earthy warm tones, the web of fractures and the textures.
This is really interesting, Paul. When I first saw the thumbnail, I thought it was a very tight macro of a leaf structure, then I read your title. You had enough angle on the light to really bring out the structure. Very nicely done.
These can be hard to frame. You’ve done a great job. Everything is clear and sharp. Wonderful textures. I wonder if flipping it vertically would make it a little more balanced. I think that would put more visual weight at the bottom.
Well seen Paul! Love the “webbing” over the cracks that sets this apart from other mud crack images. The shadows from them give an extra layer of depth to the image. The subtle differentiation in the colors works nicely too. For some reason, when I first saw the image, I immediately turned my laptop CCW 90 degrees and liked that orientation better. Maybe because the shadows are below the “webbing” in that orientation and it seemed more “natural” to my eye.
Fascinating patterns, we just don’t seem to get this sort of thing happening in Scotland except occasionally in farmers fields in the summer. Its a pity because I am a sucker for these sorts of shots. Normally it seems to be just cracked flakes of mud but this has a mosaic effect layered on top which is doubly interesting. I would expect this works incredibly well in black and white too and in truth the yellow hue is less to my taste looking a bit sickly, not your fault of course it is what it is, but I hope you do a black and white version as well.
