Shapes

[Bob Malbon]

Been going back to my early day w/ a 4x5 view camera - in sprite that is. Capturing small parts of the landscape along the coast at sunset. 1Dmk3 with 17-40 L - iso 100, 1/60 at f11, AV, +2/3, one shot AF. Bob

http://bob-malbon-photo.smugmug.com/photos/369294215_fufKU-O.jpg

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Bob,
while I do like the simplicity of this image I feel that the left rock/boulder is a bit too dominant in the image. I also found that the sky was a bit bright. In the re-post I am trying to give you ideas..........I darkened the sky using a multiplied layer at 100% opacity. this may be too dark for some........but I left it as it gave a good color contrast also. The big thing was the crop. Pano's aren't to everyones tastes.....but by going to this crop, IMO it made the shapes even more pronounced and balanced. This gives you another option and you could go with less. I do miss the large crack at the base.........so playing around with the crops may help you find one that is more appealing to you.

[Bob Malbon]

R, What I was trying to do was frame this in camera - no crop. I cloned out a couple distractions on the right. I like panos very much but your re-post dose cut away too much of what what I was trying to present. Take no offence in this just stating my view. 95% of my work is wildlife that dose not want its picture taken it was fun to have the rock sit still for me! Thanks for taking the time to resopnd and do the pano post. Bob Malbon

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Bob,
No problem. Even after i cropped it I felt it might be too much. I find that one about 3/4 of an inch below my crop may be my favorite.....but since that was not your intent I do understand and take no offense......... the final decision is always yours. Gotta love those rocks! Did you like the sky darkening?

[Douglas Bolt]

Hi Bob,

I liked the image, but I had the same feeling that Roman expressed - bolder on left was a bit overpowering. The crop was all from the left/bottom, but the image is still 3x2.

I saturated the blues and reds a bit with S/H and added a little black to the blues and reds with Selective Colors. Also with Curves, added a little contrast and brightened the bolder, which seemed to enhance the feeling of sunrise/sunset light on the bolder. Just another mod. Not sure I accomplished my goal, but it is always fun to work with a beautiful image. Thanks, Bob.

[Robert Amoruso]

Bob,

I understand what you were trying to show and I do like the large rock contrasted to the smaller one. I also like the deep crevice between them as it acts as a leading line into the image. IMO, Roman's crop was too much but I like Doug's from the bottom but not necessarily from the left.

For me, what I would have liked to see would be the dark BG treeline eliminated from the image. I find it distracts from the power of the boulders. Don't know if going left or right would have worked, perhaps a lower perspective would have done the trick.

You could try a local contrast enhancement with USM on a BG copy at 10/20/0 as a start to bring out all that nice detail in the rock. Just vary the settings to your liking.