Another from Death Valley last week, early morning light on the dunes.
D850, 24-70mm
This is really nice Harley, it looks great in B&W. I love the silvery look of the dunes.
To me this a nice composition that showcases both the dunes and clouds together. I especially love what is going on in the LRC. That dark little bush stands out wonderfully against the sunlit dune behind it, and the bush also draws my eye towards the smaller dune to its right too.
Very nicely done, I’m enjoying this very much as presented.
This has to be one of my favorites of your recent DV pictures. A couple of suggestions though. (1) The small bush with it’s special light is start of the show and needs to be better accentuated. (2) I’m still a sucker for the AA skies and would punctuate those clouds by darkening the sky.
For the tree I cropped from the left and added content aware fill on the bottom. The content aware was done a bit sloppily and needs to have the lighter area further adjusted which I don’t have time for.
For the sky I used a level adjustment printing up the clouds and down the blue. The selection caught the dark mountain on the very right and made it too dark thus needing further adjustment.
I added a white frame (sorry).
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This is excellent, Harley. That cloud is just enough to tie in beautifully with the big dune. Processing looks great. Work wonderfully as a pano but I could see taking some off the right… maybe half the amount between the frame edge and the prominent bush in the lower right to focus more on the big dune and cloud.
Igor, the addition of the frame makes a nice difference. You’ve got me thinking now…
I also like the darker sky, now that I see it in Igor’s rework. It adds more pop to the clouds.
I am really enjoying the silvery tones Harley. Wonderful luminosity.
It’s a beautiful panoramic overview, the shape in the cloud is interesting and it deserves the amount of space it got! I like your soft contrasts, but I enjoy the rework Igor did too, it places the bushes on the right a bit better in the frame and the darker sky adds just a touch of extra contrast. I would clone out the little bush(es) in the LLC in both versions I think.
A great moment to have chosen, Harley, with the splash of cloud seeming to hang protectively over the dunes. Wonderful range of tones, from that dark R corner of the frame to the bright centrepiece.
Harley,
Yup, another wonderful view from DV. This grand landscape fits perfectly in what I remember as your “Wide open spaces” genre (I think that’s right.) Anyway, I think probably give the time of day and light that b&w was clearly the right choice - and an excellent one!
Before seeing Igor’s reply, I too was thinking more along the lines of a darker sky, brighter clouds; not all black mind you, but in general I think globally some added contrast. I think that would even help emphasize that light play and tree in the LR.
A couple minor, personal choice, tweaks and this is a wall hanger for sure.
Lon
Works for me, Harley, lovely silverish tones, and I like the sky treatment added by Igor.