Back from the High Sierra, on to the backlog! 
This is another frame from Zion this past memorial day weekend… As always, all feedbacks are welcome.
Nikon D750, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/400, ISO 100
Played with the crop as suggested below and I am really liking this direction:
@adhikalie
Adhika,
I really like how you have handled the rock color, fog and the white balance in this scene. If I am honest I do prefer the composition of your other posting from this great weekend at Zion. The parts where the mountain is peeking through the fog are really nice but the amount of empty fog in the URC of the scene is just not quite working for me. Maybe others will have suggestions or a very different take.
@Alan_Kreyger , thanks! I see where you are coming from about the negative space. I don’t think it is adding that much to the scene (more just as a balancing element); it’s certainly not the prettiest part of the scene but I am not quite bothered by its presence. And, maybe this is related but I was debating about the choice of crop for a while with this one. One contender was a square crop of the center of the image. I don’t know if it somehow helps the image; I don’t have any preference either way so I chose to present it in the wider format knowing that I would get helpful feedback from you guys on this (and I did! Thanks, Alan!)
Adhika, I do think the crop helps for me, thanks for the repost.
The repost with the crop is the winner for me, Adhika. It simplifies the scene to just what you need. I really love the mood with the fog as it adds an air of mystery to the scene and the processing looks spot on to me. Beautifully done.
Adhika, if I had this image in my own backlog, it wouldn’t have remained there very long, this one deserves to be shown !!! The mood and atmosphere in this image are just wonderful. And I love how you kept the color saturation more subdued, that really enhances the soft feeling here.
I looked at your original post and had the same thought as @Alan_Kreyger that there was too much negative space in the URC, but then I saw your second alternate square crop, and thought now this is moving in a better direction. You do need some negative space in the URC for balance, and the second image does a better job of that IMO. I would offer a third suggestion that is also a squarish crop, but retains more of the interesting rock wall in the LLC of the original post while cropping from the top and right. I also dodged the LLC slightly to reveal more of the detail and texture there.
This is really nice, and I prefer Ed’s crop to nail the composition. Excellent mood and sense of mystery.
Thanks @Ed_McGuirk and @Harley_Goldman!
Ed, I am really liking this crop and great idea to dodge that LLC as well. Thank you so much for this excellent input.
I have edited the OP with the revision
I like your second posted image Adhika. The square crop feels to cut off.
Adhika,
Great image! You got some fabulous condition in Zion. I am a fan of the new crop. No suggestions to the current image. It looks good to go to me!
Adhika,
Great mood and atmosphere and agree with others the processing and the cliffs are well done.
I’m also in the camp about the empty space. It appears to me that any crop variation really doesn’t eliminate that empty area, but perhaps reduces it - but it’s still there. I think the clinging fog makes for a great and dynamic image. But alas, the empty fog in the corner is holding this one back.
Lon
@Lon_Overacker: Thanks, Lon! That’s a fair statement. This is definitely something to keep in mind in the future!
@Adhika_Lie this is a very nice image, I would love to see Zion with foggy conditions like this. I like your second crop and also think the square crop you posted works as well. No suggestions from me. I am more interested in your settings choice.
Do you mind sharing why you chose a 5.6 aperture? Was it handheld for the light conditions or to keep the foggy feel of the image softer?
I think it works as is, but my personal aperture choice would have been more around f8 or so. Just trying to delve deeper into your thought process if you feel like sharing.
Thanks and Great image!
Hi Hermann, I am glad that you like the re-crop. Thanks for the kind words.
As for the choice of setting, the cliffs are quite far away that you can still get the entire image within the DOF with this aperture. As an illustration, here are 1:1 crop of the front cliff and the back cliff.
Front Cliff:
Back Cliff:
This was certainly a nice situation, a photographer’s dream. Well shot and I would also go for Ed’s crop.
Grt, Ingrid.
