White Dome Geyser

One of my pleasures when photographers get together and shoot the same locations is seeing how different their views are. It’s also fun to see how different viewer’s reactions are to the differing views. As a photographer, I’ve learned through experience that you can never predict which image(s) will appeal to viewers although it’s often easy to predict which images will appeal to most critics. Following the different visions idea, here my two favorites of White Dome Geyser erupting as I stood beside Bill Fach and Phil Hodgkins in Yellowstone last spring. The horizontal was near the start of the eruption where the sunlight under the cloud deck was lighting up the low hanging clouds, while the vertical was as the eruption was near it’s maximum height and the clouds were continuing to clear in the west.

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Mark, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the vertical. I think you have gained a lot more by losing of those trees in the BG. I also think there is enough separation between the cloud and the eruption. The light is super pretty, too.

The vertical is so much more dramatic Mark.

Mark,

Enjoying both of these, but prefer the vertical. The difficulty with yours and Bill’s recent post is the separation between the spouting water and the bg clouds. I think you’ve done pretty well in that regard with both images here. The horizontal does a great job in showing off the dome and while the spouting water blends a bit with the clouds, the vertical nature of shape let’s it separate just enough. But for me, the closer, more intimate zoom makes this more about the dome and the geology of it all.

The vertical, wow, does a great job in just capturing the peak moment and the geyser is much more prominently displayed and separated from the bg. And just for the dynamics and capturing the “moment” I think the vertical is a stronger image. Of course they’re both excellent.

Only suggestion or wish for the vertical would be a tad more space on the left to give the confluence of the ground and the starting of the dome a little more room. that’s pretty picky though.

Oh, the quality of light is awesome, as is the processing.

Well done!

Lon

Undoubtedly the vertical for me also, much better. Ron

Touché Mark! The big question is, which image did you predict would appeal to the critics… :wink::grin:

Another vote for the vertical although I would crop off the top just below the lowest blue color. That should improve it significantly.

Mark, I usually always comment that I prefer the horizontal images, but this one takes the vertical nod from me too. Excellent look at this geyser…:+1::sunglasses:

Yep, vertical. For me, it comes down to the fact that the water spout is so tall. I think both are awesome photos (nice job on the cloud backdrop), but I love the height of the vertical.

I really like both and both are different enough that I don’t have a favorite. The horizontal is more understated, subtle and nuanced, the vertical more up-front drama. Totally different and both are excellent. Luckily, I have no need to choose. :slight_smile:

Mark, I really like both of these a lot, but if I had to pick one it would be the vertical for the drama mentioned by others. But… I like the clouds in the horizontal a lot, the dark grey sky above then makes them really pop (where the big white cloud at the top of the vertical competes a bit with the lower bright clouds. I think my favorite would be the horizontal if it was cropped from the right to more of a square presentation. But that’s just a tweak, both are pretty strong images as presented. The light on those low clouds is exquisite.

Mark: I had to do a double take when I saw the thumbnail thinking I had posted another one without remembering. I do like the vertical and now I’m sorry I didn’t shoot any, which is unusual for me since a majority of my comps tend to be portrait oriented. I like the light you got here especially. Hats off for two fine images. >=))>

Definitely the vertical for me, Mark, for a couple of reasons. As someone mentioned, the trees in the horz are a distraction while the vertical keeps all of the attention on the eruption. Also, I think the light is far superior in the vertical plus I really like the splash of blue at the top.

Bill, the similarity or our horizontal views is striking, but probably not a surprise given that we were 3 feet apart, the boardwalk limited how far we could move and that zoom lenses meant we had the same focal lengths readily available. It’s interesting to see the differences between the similar views.

Both are great, but the vertical one has a lot of drama and emotion… Splendid!