Polished + Rework

REWORK:

ORIGINAL:

Went wandering about in Whiskeytown Park on Thanksgiving Day, just to see what I could see. It was late morning, and the sun was high, but casting nice light on these polished rocks. Totally fiddled with the contrast and dodging/burning, to accentuate the textures on the shiny bits.

What technical feedback would you like if any? What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Any comments welcome. I’m ambivalent about the darker section at the bottom. It doesn’t really fit with the three upper sections of polished rock, but I like the way the fractures radiate from that small reddish square section.

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

Single frame, a73r, 24-105@68mm, f/16, 1/205s, ISO 400, hand held.

2 Likes

You have a great eye for spotting these type of intimate landscapes, Bonnie. Whiskeytown Park sounds interesting with just the name. I can conjure up several ideas in my mind. :laughing: I do like the radiating diagonal lines and shapes as they keep my eye interested throughout the frame. The grains of sand are also another wonderful element here and compliment the hard faced stone rather nicely. My only suggestion would be to tone down the brighter area of stone along the center left side above the darker band along the bottom. Very interesting image.

Ed’s thoughts echo mine . Nice simple graphic image.

[quote=“Bonnie_Lampley, post:1, topic:18342”]
…d you like if any? What artistic feedback would you like if any?Any comments welcome. I’m ambivalent about the darker section at the bottom. It doesn’t really fit with the three upper sections of polished rock, but I like the way the fractures radiate from that small reddish square section.Pertinent technical details or techniques:Single frame, a73r, 24-105@68mm, f/16, 1/205s, ISO 400, hand held.
[/quote]
Hi Bonnie.
Your picture appealed to me directly and I like all these little detail landscapes. In addition, all contrasts in form, color, texture, warm and cold. Especially the cracks, which pull like veins through the rock fascinate me. I felt the lower part very important because it gives my view an anchor / starting point from which I can explore the picture.
After I cut the upper part I felt the ratio of light and dark more pleasant. Thus, a further swearing-in came into my focus, namely the breaking point with the great red straps. I added a little clarity and turned the lights down a little bit. In addition, I have darkened the upper right corner a little to create an alume balance of light and dark. By increasing the saturation of red orange and yellow I have highlighted the cracks a little more.
I hope they like it and I haven’t changed too much so that the mood they wanted to capture persists. Best regards.
Uploading: Whiskeytown_112620_0028.jpg…

1 Like

I enjoy this image a lot, Bonnie. I’m a big fan of rock. Go figure - I’m a geologist. The radial fracture pattern and small scale movement along the fractures is quite interesting to me.

Artistically, the composition is well balanced. My mind is settled that the lowest section that you are ambivalent about is a positive inclusion - it balances and adds weight to the composition. Nice work!

I too really like this image. The dark foreground section is great. The small squarish, gravely rock leads well into the mid ground where the same textures outline the rock with the diagonal veins. Wonderful intimate landscape. Your seeing was superb with this image.

Thank you, @Ed_Lowe, @Michael_Lowe, @Martin9, @Matt_Lancaster, and @Larry_Greenbaum for your thoughts and appreciations.

I liked Martin’s darkening of the left side, in line with Michael and Ed’s suggestion. Also the darkening at the top. I incorporated that into a rework. I was loathe to crop off the top, so I did additional darkening in the ULC, as that seemed to help the balance.

That bottom part was still bugging me, so I lightened and cooled it a tad, to bring the tonality more in line with the rest of the frame, while keeping the overall darkness. I also dodged some in the central part of the frame, on the middle dark band, thinking it would help keep the eye in the frame.