Fall color in a slot canyon. I just came back from exploring southwestern Utah with a Fall color theme in mind. When I made this image, I was attracted to the pattern in the red rock wall and how it goes together with the golden leaves. I thought the bounced light also worked to my advantage here. I am not usually into the 3:2 aspect ratio but it seems appropriate here. This is almost full-frame.
As always, your comments and critiques are highly valuable to me and it is always lovely to hear the kind of response that the image evokes in you. Thank you!
This is really well done. I may have shot in the same canyon so I can appreciate this composition. When I was there the leaves were green. I found compositions a bit difficult in there. Did you find it easier to compose in Death Valley with all those layers?
It was so dark in there that I had to use a very slow shutter speed and with the small breeze it was a challenge to keep to those leaves sharp. Did you have that problem?
I processed mine to make my canyon walls redder than yours. I like the color balance you’ve decided upon.
Really nice. Even for such a “static” image there is great flow throughout. The color palette is also nice with the yellow leaves against the reddish rock BG. Well done.
I like the colors and the textures in the image. For me there is something that is a little disconcerting . The trees look properly vertical but the rock wall is slanting to the right a lot which me feel like I am tipping to the right.
If this were mine, I’d consider using the title “Tenacious”, to me there is a story here about the little tree clinging to life in this difficult environment. I like how your composition has divided the image into thirds, it makes for an interesting layer cake. The light on (or your processing of) the leaves gets nice separation of them from the sandstone. The shapes and textures make for a more complex image, but the strong color/light on the leaves and upper sandstone make the image work for me.
I think the image works well as presented. But I could perhaps see a bit more luminance and warmth in the red and yellow highlights (especially in the bottom half of the image.
If you mean Zion, I still think it’s a challenging place to shoot but I really enjoy the walk there and if I find a composition that works, it is very gratifying.
I was lucky that it was very quiet when I got there, but I know what you mean. I shot this in the late afternoon for the bounced light and my shooting spec was at 0.6 sec, f/18, ISO 100.
Richard, good observation. I think I know what you are talking about. This is actually shooting almost vertically upward and that has contributed to some of the “tipping” that you see here. But on the other hand, I feel that it is that “tipping” that creates the movements and flows in the image.
Thanks, Ed! Will play on this. The cooler color and darker tones in the bottom half of the image is a result of the bounced light not reaching far enough into the slot canyon and I want to see if I can play with your suggestions.
I played around with @Ed_McGuirk’s suggestion about bringing up the luminosity and color balance in the bottom half of the image. I find a slight increase in exposure combined with a radial mask around the base of the tree on the left is a slight improvement in the image. I have also burned the top left corner of the image slightly. I have edited the original post with the edit.
Thanks a lot for all the feedbacks and suggestions!
I don’t know if you’ll like this suggestion but I’ve been pushing the oranges more towards red. The areas I worked at had stronger reds which the camera wasn’t recording. Or maybe it was recording properly and I saw it differently.
I like what you did with the rework Adhika, the tweaks are exactly what I had in mind with my suggestion. It adds a little vitality to the bottom half.
Thanks, Ed! That’s precisely what I had in mind when I saw the effect as well.
I think color is very malleable, Igor, each of us perceives color differently. I really like your change. It really sets off the yellow leaves from the BG. I will incorporate this in my final rendition of this image. Thanks for the suggestion!
