I’m hoping this conveys the feeling that the red boulders are lifted up or floating in clouds.
What technical feedback would you like if any? What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Any comments are welcome. Have at it. I would have liked a bit more room a the top, but it got busy up there and I didn’t want to do a lot of clean up in that regard. Is it too tight at the top?
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Single frame, a7r3, 24-105@39mm, f/16, 4s, ISO 400. Used a 6-stop ND filter.
Cool image. I really like it for its creativity. It’s one of those mysteriously unexplainable things that captures the imagination. The reflection is like some spooky light that adds to the mystery. I tried a square crop of just the top but this is way better. I wouldn’t know what processing to suggest without messing with your unique vision here. Maybe bring down the highlights a bit without changing the feel of it.
In my opinion, the largest version of images is usually the best , but here the largest removes the mystery of the lifting off rock . Excellent capture.
I had the same impression, @Jim_Gavin. When I saw this on the live view back of the camera, I thought “they’re floating!”. But viewed large that feeling wasn’t there. Thinking about why that might be, I considered the shadows on either side of the red rocks might be giving too much detail there, detracting from the cloud feel. So, I dodged those shadows, and further reduced detail in the dark areas to make it more graphic, which is what I think we see in the smaller view - just the big, graphic elements. Will post a rework.
This is really quite a mind bender and/or optical illusion. Kudos for seeing the potential in this, most people would have passed this scene by. I think the warmer highlights of the rework helps the illusion of the boulder being lifted up. The highlights in the water seem like they are pushing the boulders up. I guess this is like the watery version of the Racetrack at Death Valley
My only suggestion would be to burn down the 2 boulders a little more, but I like the vignette you added in the rework, i think that helps.
I’m enjoying both versions Bonnie. The rework has more of an abstract feel for me (which is not a bad thing, just different). I do like that it takes a moments pause to recognize what I’m looking at.
Wonderful find, Bonnie! I would not have even looked twice at this scene, but I am so glad you did. I like the rework as it seems to give the rock even more separation and does appear to be floating in mid air. Way to think outside the box.
I love the rework Bonnie. This appears so three dimensional to me and yes it’s a mind bender as Ed points out. I still can’t figure this image out which is what makes it so intriguing to me. It definitely looks like these rocks were blasted out of the water and are floating in mid air. The rework cools down the highlights nicely and fits the image better than the warmer tones in the original which were slightly more harsh looking. I’m really enjoying just looking at this image. I may never figure it out though. Well done Bonnie!!!
