Palette's palette

[Mark_Seaver]

Critique Style: Standard

The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.

Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive

About This Image

Over the summer, the flow in Palette Springs (Mammoth Hot Springs) moved to the central portion. This makes the middle section more colorful than it has been in years, with a variety of colors. This is a look at the central section. The whites on the right are water that is too hot for any of the Yellowstone bacteria to live in. Different bacteria and some algae provide the colors elsewhere with the colors depending on the water temperature. The dead tree is roughly 6 feet tall.

Feedback Requested

I like that there’s a full range of luminosity from the blacks where the water’s cool to the whites and mist in the upper right. Since this area of the spring gets no direct sun at this time of the year, the subtle colors show up well and are enhanced by using a polarizer to reduce the skylight reflections.

Technical Details

Camera: Canon EOS R5
Lens: RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
Focal length: 109mm
Shutter speed: 1/640s
Aperture: f/10
ISO: 400
tripod and polarizer

[Chris_Baird]

I never made it to Mammoth when I was at Yellowstone and always wanted to go back. Lovely pastel palette in the image.. The textures are divine and you’ve brought them out well. Nice dynamic range. It’s great that you have the tree trunk in there to give some sense of scale. It gives a different perspective on what I’m looking at.

I have attached a slight edit that I tried. I flipped it horizontally because I, personally, felt it flowed better from left to right. I also did a slight crop off the top to eliminate the detail along the top and cut out the bright white spot in the UR corner. Perhaps this is not the story you were conveying, though. Anyway, I love the photo.