The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical
About This Image
As we wound down our last full day in Yosemite in early May, we photographed along the Merced just outside of the park entrance. At one of the pull offs Kyle pointed out this tree growing from a crack in the cliff face, and I found it fascinating. If Alex Honnold took up bonsai…
Feedback Requested
I wanted to capture not only the tree, but also the arched crack above with the yellowed streaks below. Does that all come together, or is it an over reach? Any suggestions on processing are welcome as well.
Technical Details
Camera: NIKON Z 7_2
Lens: NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR
Focal length: 330mm
Shutter speed: 1/8s
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 64
If memory serves, I believe this is Elephant Rock on the south side of the river. It’s a pretty impressive chunk of granite! The first 5.10 climbing route in Yosemite was done on that rock and was called “The Crack of Doom”. I never climbed it myself because I wasn’t really good with 6"-wide cracks. Alex would probably climb it free-solo!
I really like the juxtaposition of the tree and the staining under the arch. The arch ties the comp together and gives a good notion of the scale. I like everything about this, John, so have no nits to pick.
Wow!! Rock trees are one of my favorite finds and this is a top-notch one! I love the arch above it and the diagonal in the LL repeating the less-noticeable one coming down from the tree.
I wonder if the tree might be made a little more prominent if its greens were warmed a bit, without affecting anything else in the frame.
Love, Love this John! I’m only mad because during that stop, I left my camera in the car while you all were capturing master pieces! My bad.
This is awesome for a number of reasons. First, the nature story; the persevearance of the tree, and so many other tree like this one, growing and thriving on a crack in rock wall. Amazing nature story. Not to mention the granite itself.
In addition the the great nature story, the composition is excellent as well. The giant heart-shaped slab that broke away, who knows how long ago, is a real treat and cool feature of the bigger monolith. I’d actually love to learn more about the staining/streaking causing all the different colors. I imagine some components of iron in the rock bleeds out maybe? I dunno - maybe our resident geologist and expert, @Preston_Birdwell knows what causes the streaks and their various colors.
The only feedback and suggestion I have, Diane has touched on. For me, that lone pine is a bit blue. And speaking of blue, the darker right side of the granite wall is also a bit blue. Now I know, and I’ve seen the granite on these walls can be blue, especially under overcast skies, but that, along with the pine, suggest a little warming - if anything just targeted to those areas. The rest of the wall looks great.
Love this John! So happy you came away with this keeper. I might have to revisit during our next trip!
Edit: I went ahead to see what it might look like. I simply added a linear gradient in ACR and warmed the color temp about 15pts. I didn’t notice until I just saved the image, but you can see the difference in the color on the frame border!
I can’t argue with @Bill_Fach 's point that maybe this only takes this from an 11 to an 11.1…
@Lon_Overacker Lon, a quick googlefu returned the following from NPS regarding the origin of the stains on the granite. I did have my own theory in mind, which was close, but this better…
“Weathering and mineral reactions
Granite is composed mainly of quartz, feldspar, biotite, and hornblende. When exposed to rainwater, snowmelt, and atmospheric moisture, these minerals can undergo hydrolysis and oxidation. For example, potassium feldspar can react with water and weak acids to form clay minerals, which may darken the surface. Biotite and hornblende can also weather, releasing iron and other elements that stain the rock.”
John: You came this close to breaking my -meter with this one. I love finding scenes like this and will never pass them by for all the reasons @Diane_Miller and @Lon_Overacker gave. For me the tree color is a non-nit but I can see where that adjustment would merely lift this to 11.1/10 vs 11/10. A wonderful scene superbly captured and rendered. >=))>
You really nailed it with this one, John. The composition is excellent with that arched frame of broken away rock. I think you went a tad overboard with the green in revision 2. jmho
Ya got me! If it were April Fool’s Day, and I knew it was April Fool’s Day… you still got me! I was trying real hard to think of a way to let you know you took it a bit too far… like neon green? Really John? C’mon man… Then I saw the 11.0 version… Whew! Now I don’t have to say anything.
Repost looks great John! Thanks for making my day! ha ha!
What a great find. It would be hard to work past, even if there was no tree. Composition is top notch with all the cracks and crannies framing the tree. Well, the whole image is top-notch really. No nits or suggestions.
One of those images, that once seen, cannot be forgotten. Everything has already be said and done to improve its perfection. I will only add my admiration.
Just a thought;
I know the arch was part of the composition, of the preview of this image, but unlike most people, I think the arch competes with the tree and takes away some of its impact. On the other hand, the proposed crop gives the rock face a different sense of “endlessness.”
As I said, just some wandering thoughts…
Fantastic framing - for me the top of the arch is essential compositionally.
If the lime green tree (revision 2 - latest) is the final one (I can see 3 images) it needs to be less vibrant please?
LOVE the Lon version in his post
I did my tweaks carefully masking just the tree and then with channel mixer made “green channel green” to +119 (up from 100) and blue channel blue to +86 (down from 100)
-meter with this one. I love finding scenes like this and will never pass them by for all the reasons 
