The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
A sunrise scene during the recent winter solstice. I’d been to this site in the past several times and decided to use a GPS reading and the TPE program to map this out in advance. Thankfully the weather cooperated and left the sky clear as recent outings had cloud covers and the normal winter muted lighting.
The entire name is; “Barrel Cactus Wake Up Call”, as it’s listed in this months Inland Empire Magazine.
Specific Feedback
ANY
Technical Details
Garmin 22x GPS - Google Earth Pro - GPS Coordinate Converter - The Photographer’s Ephermeris - Army Corps of Engineers Compass.
Hi @Paul_Breitkreuz, Good use of the technology to get you to the right place and time to shoot on film. I like the pattern of the cacti and how you framed them without overlap. The mix of yellow and green grasses really support the cacti well and make a nice contrast with the dry hillside. Nicely planned, seen and processed.
Hi Paul,
This is a beautiful end result of some careful planning and execution. I particularly like how the warm tones of the cacti in the landscape contrast with the cool blue tones of the sky and of course the sunstar is the cherry on top! Beautifully done.
Wow, Paul. I love the vivid colors in the barrel cacti. Nicely spread throughout the frame here. Beautiful early morning light. This is hitting on all cylinders for me.
I love the backlight on the cactus and grass, as well as the way the cactus create a sort of squiggly line that pulls my eye through the frame toward the sunburst. I do find the lower left side of the image to be a little bare, though. Most of what I consider to be the main subjects (cactus and sunburst) are on the right, and it feels a little imbalanced. That said, it’s still beautiful and reminds me of cool desert mornings watching the sun crest a ridge to begin the day.
Paul: Terrific timing well worth the preparation. Also a wonderful combination of advanced tech and old school gear. In the hands of a master the result is marvelous. >=))>
@Kris_Smith@linda_mellor@SkipsPics@Bill_Pelzmann@Ed_Lowe@guy@Ed_Williams@Bret_Edge@Mark_Seaver@Bill_Fach
I sincerely appreciate ALL of the reviews on this scene. This area is not easy to work in at my ripe old age as the amount of volcanic rock here is treacherous to walk on even with a well balanced & stable pair of pins holding you up. I do enjoy the actual pre-fielding and mapping things out in advance as much as the day of. In this case it all came together nicely… @Bret_Edge off line I took a crop in on the left just passed the singular cacti there and I found your perspective works very nicely too as a vertical image overall…
First of all, Congratulations on having your image in Inland Empire Magazine. Well done. I love barrel cactus and that small grouping is delicious. I can see why you went back to photograph this spot. The light is great and the star burst and low sun position explains the glow on the green grasses. I do find in a little too saturated for my tastes but hey, that’s just me. It could also be my new monitor which I seem to be having troubles with so take that comment with a grain of sand. I find the top left edge where the hill goes out of the frame a distraction because of the hump there. There is also a small blade of grass in the very LLC that catches my eye and could be cloned out. These are really nit picky though. I do think a vertical of the right side would maybe have better balance. I’ll check it out. Here is a rework lowering the saturation overall and then selecting the reds and lowering saturation and also adding in shadow detail on the barrel cactus. I’m not sure I like the star burst in the center of the frame but I do find it a little bit more balanced. YMMV.
