Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Taken on a photo workshop in Monument Valley. I am attracted to trees of any age or shape.
Specific Feedback
Any feedback welcome
Technical Details
Sony a7iv on tripod. ISO 100, f/11, 1/30 sec.
Processed in LR and PS using TK9 luminosity masking and actions.
@Diane_Miller, thanks for pointing out that my photo needed straightening. Unfortunately, I did not take any shots with more sky in them. This sky is too “busy” to add with content-aware-fill.
Very nice! The old tree is very interesting stands out well from the softer BG. The mid-ground vegetation adds a very nice element.
The framing is nice, with the pillar centered in the tree’s branches and the branch on the left filling the empty space. Just a little more room on top would be good if this was a crop. I have an urge to rotate it a little CW, to make the striations in the rock closer to horizontal and the edge of the shaded side of the pillar closer to vertical. Geologically accurate or not, these are clues the brain sees. The two items are probably not perpendicular and some subtle distortion might work well – not a complete correction, but just a bit of visual stress relief.
Thanks Diane. I can fix both the space at the top and the rotation. I do see now what you are talking about. Now that you mention it. It jumps out at me.
Barbara, this is a great view of this tree and it’s surroundings. The blue sky does a fine job of contrasting with the warm reddish tones in the tree and the rocks. I like how you’ve framed the one tower with the tree. Based on the posting date it looks like you missed the end date of the “lone tree” weekly challenge by a day.
@Mark_Seaver Yes, I guess I did. 
Thanks for the critique.
This was a difficult call, as of course there is no assurance the “horizontal” striations were actually horizontal. Fixing them makes the “near horizon” of the edge of the sand look even more sloped, which it did a little anyway. I usually settle for some compromise that seems to look reasonable, and your second version feels good, but the scene is so pretty that I’m definitely nit-picking. Or not so much nit-picking as just challenging you! You lost a little FG with the fix and it would be successful to add canvas there and do content-aware fill.
The tree stands out so well, it makes me feel like I’m there!
Again, Diane, thank you. Looking at the two of them, I am unsure which I prefer.
