Sheephole Valley Sunset - Switched Category

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
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SheepholeValleySunset.jpg
SheepholeValleySunset.jpg2000×1437 947 KB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

I know this is a bit early, but we’re headed out of town for a few weeks and I don’t think I’ll get a chance to post much from the road.

This was taken in June a few years back. This area is just North and East of Joshua Tree/Twenty-nine Palms in the Mojave Desert. My son and I were out dry camping in the desert while collecting velvet ants. It was quite warm. Good reminder if you’re going to spend a lot of time in the desert to keep lots of cool water handy, and don’t plan on getting a lot of sleep. . . but the evening light shows can be amazing.

Specific Feedback

Haziness? Need more desert and a focal point near the bottom? I ran this through Topaz denoise, is it too noticeable?

Technical Details

Canon 5DMiii, f5.6, 1/60 sec, iso 200, 24-105 lens at 24 mm, pretty much full frame. Topaz denoise.

Critique Template

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  • Vision and Purpose:
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Wow, gorgeous sky & colors Ed. I love the delicacy of the pinks and blues in such contrast to the monochromatic tans and browns of the desert.
If the story is of the magnificent sky, you got it spot on. If the story is of the sky in the desert, then perhaps a bit more of the desert at the bottom edge (like you were thinking) below the center bush, and a delicate spotlight on that bush would invite our eye to start in the desert and rise up to the sky? I am not bothered by the denoise, and the haze is is what allows my eye to move up into the main event of the sky. Definitely makes me want to be there for this event.

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Ed, I tried a generative expand on the foreground. The colors in my result are all messed up. It is what happened when I downloaded your image to PS - sorry about that, but you can see what a little more desert in the foreground may look like.

SheepholeValleySunset
SheepholeValleySunset2000×1514 342 KB

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Hi @Connie_McClaran and @Larry_Greenbaum, thank you for giving it a try. When I get back home in a few weeks, I’ll see if I can find a way to add more desert to the bottom.

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I decided since this was more about the clouds than the desert, to switch categories for this week.