This is a vignette of the Temblor Range covered by Hillside Daisies at the Carrizo Plains National Monument. The late morning light seems to work best for this particular study at least on the cloudless day I was there. I tried this in the evening light but it turned out quite flat as the scene was directly front lit then. The curves grabbed me when working on this composition. I was planning on making a wider panorama but turned out that a smaller segment of that works better. My only wish is for a better separation between the FG hill and the BG. But the light was just not working that way. All feedbacks are welcome!
Adhika, when I see this scene I see the beautiful blend of spring colors and then the sweeping ridge line. Those features anchor the scene and then I am free to wander into the more subtle and less prominent contours. I find these scenes difficult to compose and I think this works very well! Beautiful work!
I like the combo of the colors and the repeating ridge lines. It also gives great depth to the image. I might tweak the foreground golds a little more toward yellow but pretty minor.
Alan, I also find area like this very difficult to photograph. Was it Guy Tal that said something along the line of not all pretty things translate to beautiful images? That’s how I feel about this area. I have a lot of thoughts and emotions going through my mind that I would like to pour on the canvas (read: digital sensor) but most of them are lost in the process. I am glad to hear that this one works.
Harley, good thought about the color tweak in the FG, are you thinking of tweaking the gold to be more similar to the background yellow? I hesitate because in my mind fiddle necks and hillside daisies should be rendered differently. But I can see how tweaking them to have similar color would simplify the scene though.
I like how the downward sloping angle of the mid ground is counter balanced by the opposite sloping angle of the foreground and the background. I also like the green and yellow color combination. Maybe a bit of mid tone contrast would help bring out those elements a bit more?
Normally I like your subdued (by today’s standards) approach to landscape photography, but not in this case. This image is about color so I would convey that to the viewer. Crank up the vibrance and raise the clarity.
Nicely done. This is quite peaceful to look at. I like how you have arranged the lines in the image, creates a nice balance. My only cc is that it may lack a touch of contrast in the yellows (but that may be a personal taste thing).
Adhika, I like the composition as presented. The layout of the receding ridge lines are interesting. I would suggest increasing mid-tone constrast for some more pop.
I also think using HSL to shift green to be more green would add some more color contrast and visual interest. The greens currently present in the image have a lot of yellow in them. Pushing them more to green would create some color separation. This green/yellow separation can also be done using LAB color adjustments, something that @Lon_Overacker uses on some of his images.
Thanks, guys! I experimented with the ideas mentioned above and I like the result of adding a touch of midtone contrast to the yellow as @Eugene_Theron suggested. It effectively addresses @Igor_Doncov’s suggestion about color saturation as well. I added the revised version on the OP. Thanks again, guys!
I really like the gentle sweep of the hills and the patterns made by the shrubs. The landscape is understated but of considerable beauty - I think you have brought this off very well. The revised version seems to bring out the yellow areas just that touch more prominently.
The rolling hillsides have created some lovely depth to this beautiful scene, Adhika. I think the small tweak to the yellows in your repost has added just a bit more pop and works perfectly. This has a serene feel to it which I find very inviting and relaxing. Great image.
Thanks, @Ian_Wolfenden and @Ed_Lowe. I am glad that the tweak to the yellow works out well. As soon as I made the change, I perceived more depth to the image and I think that’s a good thing.
