The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I had been working an open landscape scene on a few return visits off and on with my brother Tom in tow.
With that said while waiting for another sunrise he found this small cactus cluster near the Contact Mine area of JTNP. The dead cholla stalks provided a bit of framing or quote marks to the smaller living cacti. Including the single red barrel cactus, several hedgehog, and a few smaller silo looking cactus.
Not sure if this fits the category exactly and if not moderator please move to Landscape?
Specific Feedback
Beyond comments & critiques I’m trying to figure out what type of cactus the small silo looking ones at the lower left side of the grouping are. They’re needles are tiny and the cactus seems fuzzy looking for the most part.
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You might have to go back and take a close look at the spines on the ones in doubt, Paul. I did a clip of it and put it in Google image search and there were two or three of the results that looked possible. the first choice was Common Fishhook Cactus, but two or three others looked possible.
A very nice scene. I really like the way the skeletons add their strange forms to the the rounder shapes of the live cacti.
Thank you, Dennis. I will do that. I’d never tried that image search in Google…
I see a lot of those cactus style throughout the park and just never knew what they are. Most all the rest I’m up to speed on out there. We typically see 3 types of cholla alone. A standard, a Teddy bear or jumping, and a pencil cholla. The jumping are the worst of that group. The needles have barbs that are hooks…
Thank you, Don. Yes it was right at sunrise. This location near the Contact Mine area is in direct line with sunrises as they peek over the eastern foothill range there in JTNP.
Research to continue on the exact cactus name for those little silo types…
Paul: Terrific light and a fine capture of a neat subject. I especially like how the light has helped to separate the cacti from the BG. As for the ID, another way to get an ID in the field is if you have an I-Phone you can take an image and then access the info icon on the picture and then hit the plant ID. I’ve found this to be pretty helpful and reasonably accurate. Also works on butterflys and dragonflys. As for the proper posting place, my motto for Flora is, “If it grows, it goes.” Keep 'em coming. >=))>
@Dennis_Plank@Don_Peters@Bill_Fach thank you each for the reviews and comments on this cacti scene. I have always found the desert to have some rewarding items to photograph. @Bill_Fach I will need to try the iPhone idea when I have a chance. It would be nice to have some idea of each subject in depth. Although, I’m not sure if there is a vintage of iPhone that is required to find the “info icon”. The iPhone I have has a rotary dial on the face of it instead of a touch tone style pad. As an ex-phone dude I had to make the joke.
Dennis, did it look like this one? My dad took this out of service when he was a phone technician back in the day. Replaced it with what was a rotary dial wall phone model number 554.
Beautiful! Ours was rather more modern. Even had push buttons, but with voice calling, there’s no reason you couldn’t hide the guts of something modern in one of these. We gave ours up because our provider decided not to provide rural customers anymore.
Paul, your look of this cacti cluster tells a fine story, with the cacti separated well from the surroundings by the light. The three living varieties are separated well by their spines and the red of the small one. The skeleton of the Cholla is striking because of the various angles and how it fills the frame.
I think this works perfectly for the category and I’m so glad you shared it. The light is to die for. The angle and the elevation really help separate the skeleton(s ?) from the background. I have zero knowledge of cactus species, so can’t help there, but I really like the subdued palette and the various shapes of what’s left of this little group. They have such presence, even now.
Ok…is it me or is the middle of the frame rather pink? Was it sun? I can’t really tell.
Kristen, good eye. I can’t say I’m seeing pink there but it is gold reflective light off a 30 inch Westcott disk. Until you mentioned it I’d forgotten to include that in my equipment technical listing…
I have updated the listing…thank you.
