The old Haul Road, between Ten Mile River and Noyo Harbor is slowly being swallowed by the dunes in MacKerricher State Park (Mendocino County). Other parts of the road are still extant, and part of a great coastal bike/hike trail through Fort Bragg.
Any critique is welcome. I cropped this to 9:16 ratio, as it seemed the extra sky and sand weren’t doing much. I don’t want it to seem crowded, so am wondering about this crop.
a7, 50mm, f/8, 1/250s, ISO 320.
Bonnie, I like this view, with the details under the road showing as well as all of the subtle, light colors in the sand and the grasses. The shadow of distant hills adds a fine sense of depth. I think there’s room to “play” in the crop although I’m not convinced that the changes I’m about to suggest would be improvements. If there’s space, a bit more room on the left between that rock and the edge would be nice. I’d also try a bit more space at the top, although I think there’s some nice tension in the tightness as presented. I like having the road come in from near the corner.
Thanks for your thoughts, Mark. There wasn’t any more room on the left, so I cloned out the distracting log. I also re-cropped it to give more room at the top and bottom. I do believe it’s better with more room.
Hi Bonnie. Love the composition of the photo as it does provide a Left to Right view even while looking straight on down the road. There is a little loss of context where the land meets the sky and wondering if decreasing the highlights a bit more and bringing the contrast of the sky to land would help with that, it just seems a bit more washed out. From the bottom left to the top right of the image provides a sloping view which I like and the road with the gravel gives the nature “dividing” line in the image from a rule of thirds perspective.
Bonnie: I like both versions and especially like the understated color palette. I can feel the wind and the salt spray. Well seen and captured. >=))>
Thanks for your thoughts, @Todd_Grivetti. I agree that the far background is somewhat washed out, and I did bring it out some. Any more and it didn’t look right to me. It really was washed out, and I wanted that feeling of distance.
