I recently returned from 3 days in Death Valley with fellow NPNer Harley Goldman. We shot these mud flats on the first evening and had some great skies. The rest of the trip proved a bit more challenging for a grand landscape shooter with either cloudless or fully overcast conditions.
This is a two image focus stack @ 16mm.
5DSr, 16-35 f/4 IS L
Great Work Dave, that was a great evening at the cracks in DV wish I knew I was shooting right by you guys. I love the light reflecting off the mud leading straight to the sun as it really helps lead me into the image. I think your processing is great and very natural looking. The only thing I might change is a tighter crops as I feel the center of the image is where my eye is drawn.
This turned out really well. Great leading lines within the crack patterns and good job on the processing. Is it my old eyes or is there a bit of lens distortion with the playa horizon? Could easily be the eyes.
Wonderful work Dave! That cracked mud is just amazing with the light and shadow you captured. I like this a lot.
Dave,
I like the light values across the image - the light on the mud is in relative balance with that of the sky, although my personal preference would be for greater contrast for more drama.
The sun centered in the frame makes my eye want to settle on it yet the foreground conflicts with that because there’s so much going on there; the foreground composition doesn’t support the background. I would prefer an off-center sun and leading lines of the mud cracks as a leading element for the eye to begin roaming.
As for that curved horizon, I think it’s a technical flaw that can be corrected in processing.
Dave,
Great presentation and representation of mud flats in DV. I like the faint rim lighting and channeling of the flats that does lead the eye through the frame to the setting sun.
I think though, it’s not as dramatic or impactful as most of your work. But it’s still a top-notch image
I was thinking along the same lines as Harley in that this appears to have a warp/distortion on the horizon line (that is the line between the playa and the mountain range. However, in bringing this in to PS that appears to not be the case. I suspect it’s an illusion created by the rising Sierra; ie. the range has a natural curve to it as the range rises and peaks near the middle. No biggie, but I though the same as Harley.
Lon
I love the composition here. The exaggerated sense of depth perception is the best feature of this image. I’ve shot mud quite a bit and appreciate how this was put together.
However, I feel you missed the perfect moment by a fraction of a minute here. The light quality changes really fast during the last few moments and I would have shot this just a tad earlier. And if the sun was too bright earlier I would have blended a second image for the sky.
The cracked and bent “tiles” of mud look great, Dave. They have me grinning and wishing I was there. The long, wide view really shows them off well.
Dave, the detail of the cracked mud here is a real treat for me. I like how the designs in the mud mosaic seem to coincide with the centered position of the sun.
Thanks, @David_Nilsen, @Harley_Goldman, @Nick_Bristol, @Matt_Lancaster, @Lon_Overacker, @Igor_Doncov, @Mark_Seaver, @Bill_Leggett for your insightful comments/input.
