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Image Description
Taken in the Alabama Hills. When I first saw it, I thought of the SNL Skit Coneheads (there was a Movie also, I believe) taken during Sunset.
Technical Details
Canon R6 mII 24mm F/11 1/160 ISO 100 Luminar Neo
Critique Template
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What a cool and unusual rocky outcropping. I first thought maybe this was Joshua tree but then I noticed the snow capped mountains in the background and figured this might also be the Alabama Hills. Either way, the rock is certainly interesting giving the feeling of a skull. The sky is awesome and there is some interest in the foreground.
There appears to be a little bit of a color cast everywhere except the sky so maybe a selective adjustment was made to the rocks and foreground creating a yellow hue. On those foreground rocks there is also a halo going around the main rock and it looks like you selected those rocks but your selection went outside the rock and into the sky. there is also some funky issues with the sky on the left hand side of the frame about half way the sky. Two things…there is some unusual yellowing in the sky and then that color abruptly gets cut off and just above that yellow coloration are some squiggly lines (very lite and then dark shadows in the clouds. That color doesn’t add anything to the scene but it pulls the eye and looks a little out of place with the rest of the sky that’s so beautifully blue and it looks like it was enhanced. I’m sure there was some yellow along the horizon but to me it just looks like too much. In the upper ight corner of the sky there is a splotch that looks like a processing error. I’m also seeing some rocks poke in from the left side of the frame that could be cropped out making for a cleaner composition. That shrub in the foreground is very yellow and is a little bit of an eye grabber. I took this into LR for a very quick spin and this is what I came out with.
That’s cool. I like the fact that until closer inspection, I was curious about what I was looking at. Almost looks like a petrified tree. Two things that caught my attention: I would clone out the rocks creeping in from the left and the image seems to have a slight yellow colorcast. Maybe that’s just from the morning light. Nice image overall.
I have to commend @David_Haynes on an excellent job in the rework. Reducing the saturation has drawn attention to the forms of these rocks. They really look like sculpture. Yes, they are a bit creepy.
I know from experience that if I were photographing this scene I would have done my darnest to exclude that bush at the bottom. I feel it’s not part of the statement and the fact it’s cut off draws the eye even more. The rework has helped by reducing the saturation but for me its presence is not optimal. Great image nonetheless and certainly interesting.
Theswooping cloud is just right for this vertical composition. It adds a lot.
Hi James,
This certainly is one unusual looking rock that you captured; it reminds me of a screaming face. My suggestions pretty much echo those tweaks that @David_Haynes made. Great catch and beautifully done.
I’m old enough to remember the “Coneheads” reference (back when SNL was good… ha ha!) and I can understand how you came to that reference. A very cool geological feature for sure.
I didn’t immediately think of the Alabama Hills and was thinking the colors were a little rich for that area. Of course, I’m also a proponent of processing images to “make them the best they can be” and I think the colors are within a reasonable interpretation.
I will add to the ditto’s of David’s comments and suggestions. I think his edits really capture what my impression of the AH is (I’ve been there a couple times…)
I really like your composition and David cleans up the small distractions nicely. I also think the clouds/sky is very complimentary; otherwise, a more blank sky I think would have been detrimental.
Overall a strong composition and image. A few tweaks and this can be elevated to the next level.
