Hiking in the volcanic foothills last weekend we came upon a basin of water in what looks to be a small natural amphitheater in a lava flow. I’ve always imagined the Native Americans sitting around this little basin, having ceremonies, or maybe just enjoying the shade of the surrounding oaks. This time it still had water in it from our rains in December. Having sat so long, it had lots of decaying leaves in the bottom and bits of stuff floating on top. It made for what I consider an intriguing reflection.
Specific Feedback Requested
I cloned out a lot of blown-out bits (leaves and debris that were reflecting the bright light), but left some. Are they distracting? Is there enough “there” there to hold your interest? Any comments on the color are welcome - the processing I did made the oranges and blues too saturated, so I had to tone them down.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
a7r3, 105mm, f/16, 1/40s, ISO 500. Flipped, exposure adjustment, localized dodging/burning, color adjustment, a bit of warping in the LRC.
I like this one quite a lot I think. It looks like a snow storm to me. There’s a sense of much wind as well. It’s one of your more intriguing images. I don’t know what I would change. I wouldn’t change the blue hue in the left corner where those ‘clouds’ are.
It is not just the after effects of good wine and nice Valentines dinner, but I have let my eyes wander for quite a while in this scene. It speaks through you of wonderment and quiet. I had to pinch crop it to see it on my phone, and came away with the impression that the left 15 percent with its uplifting twig and blue sorta competes with the main show; might consider that for a crop and see how you like it … not to Igor’s taste at all of course.
Hope you enjoyed Vday also.
Good one, Bonnie. The white bits on the water leave me with a winter snow feel. Put me in the left crop camp. I did a quick crop in PS and really like it cropping out the left vertical branch. Otherwise, looks really good.
Thank you, @Igor_Doncov, @joaoquintela, @CharlesV, @Dick_Knudson, and @Harley_Goldman for your thoughts. I can see the issue that some might have with those more vertical, darker branches on the left. I rather like the darker “clouds” in the ULC, so didn’t want to crop. Since I already did a warp on the LRC, I did a bit of warping on the middle left to move those vertical branches. Rework posted above.
