Another from my recent 3 nighter in Death Valley with Harley G. This was taken ~40 minutes after my previous post facing the opposite direction. This is a 3 image focus stack @ 20mm. I shot some compositions at 16mm but the colorful peaks in the background became a bit too small. Open to any/all comments, suggestions.
5DSr, Canon 16-35 f/4 IS L
This turned out really nice, Dave. I love the shape of the cracks in the foreground. I might pop the reds in the sky a little more. I like it.
Dave,
This one has the kind of movement I wish the other had, plus it captured magic reflected light. Good choice of focal length for the very reason you state. A very compelling composition and unique moment. I wonder, though, for the sake of experiment, how the surface of the mud would look with a darkening of the shadows (not blacks). I guess I’m looking for a broader range of light values. Just curious. If not, no biggie. This is a very nice image.
The strong foreground pulls this all together into a tidy and striking package, Dave. I’m a great fan of belly flop photography with wide lenses, and this amply demonstrates why. It can be challenging to achieve the right DOF and framing, but you nailed it.
Really great composition, almost distortion, of this subject. These cracks must’ve been large to get them to fill the frame at 20mm. The comp reminds me of that Horseshoe Bend that’s so often shot in Utah. It has the same appeal of that sweeping arc from frame to frame. I like everything about this image. Actually here’s an idea. What if you vignetted the bottom of the frame a tad to emphasize the circle? Or have you already done so? Great work.
Dave, the composition is outstanding, the choice to use 20mm helped a lot with the mountains. I like how you were able to emphasize the size and depth in the lower right corner of the circular crack, this takes the image up a couple notches. This is very subjective, but to my personal taste the colors in the land are a bit too red, especially the oranges in the mountains. The sky doesn’t look like it is receiving golden light, but the land does. I would try tweaking the warm/cool color contrast a bit, to get a better balance between sky and land.
Davw, A very impressive shot! I really like this low wide angle view and how you worked with these cracks. Fantastic work as it is for me.
Dave,
This is simply fantastic - different, but so much more impressive than your previous post.
The scale and illusion of scale really grabs me here. My thoughts echo Igors exactly as I too thought of Horseshoe Bend. That primary circular crack could very well be a canyon with a river at the bottom carving it’s way through. The “walls” of the crack could be hundreds of feet high. I know what it is, but am imagining it’s quite something else…
No nits or any suggestions. Awesome image.
Lon
Wonderful image Dave. Stunning light and a lot of detail to appreciate.
It is a fascinating image, the colors, the perspective, and the larger mount at the center of the horizon… Also the sky colors that mirror the reds of the landscape. I like this picture a lot, also the big round crack in the foreground.
I love the nearly circular shape in the foreground crack, Dave. It gives the scene a meditative quality that we often don’t get in this type of image. It might be an illusion (love using the yellow bar on this website as a level) but it feels like it needs the tiniest of clockwise turns (.01 or .02 to the right).
ML
Stunning Dave. That’s a fantastic foreground, and you really made the most of the background. My only thought would be to slightly drop the saturation of the bluer parts of the clouds.
Wow, this is a very striking image Dave. I love the in your face POV with the mud cracks and great call with using the 20 mm to keep some size in the mountains. The light on the mountains is outstanding as is the drama in the sky. No suggestions from me other than to print and hang it proudly.
Beautifully, done, Dave. The in your face mud cracks really make this one a cut above.
–P
@Igor_Doncov, Thanks Igor, I already added a fairly strong vignette but I can try playing with the settings.
@Preston_Birdwell, @Ed_Lowe, @John_Williams, @Marylynne_Diggs, @Antonello_Provenzale, @Eva_McDermott, @Lon_Overacker, @Nick_Bristol, @Ed_McGuirk, @Hank_Pennington, @Matt_Lancaster, @Harley_Goldman, @Igor_Doncov,
Thanks all, appreciate the comments and constructive input.
Dave
This is truly original! I’ve seen many mud crack images, but don’t remember any composition like this one - the depth of that large crack - wow. Right call on the focal length, it blends foreground and background in a very pleasing way.
Dave
I do love the composition. By chance did you try a vertical comp at 16mm with a slightly higher tripod position to still include the full circular mud crack pattern??
Thanks for the comments, @Stephen_Weaver. I did take some portrait orientations at 16mm earlier of this same crack and while they have nice light, they lack the same quality of reflected light on the mud.
