Slide Rock State Park, Arizona

[Ron Bernstein]

Canon Mark IIN, Canon 16-35/2.8 @ f 13. Four shot HDR image made with Nik HDR Efex Pro and finished in Photoshop CS5. Gitzo tripod; RRS L-bracket; RRS head. Singh-Ray polarizer. Shot in light rain, which gratefully scattered all the visitors! I welcome comments and criticism. Thank you!

[Ian Cassell]

Very nice, Ron. Having been there, I'm most impressed that you were able to get this free of people! The wet rock adds a very nice touch. I might try evicting the trees in the top left corner.

[Chris Ober]

I like the trees there but cutting them out also gives a pretty cool presentation. Love the colors, textures, and point of view.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Ron, I pray for rain on days when I want to shoot rivers and waterfalls. The rain has saturated the colors in the rocks nicely and I like the detail in the water.

[Robert Amoruso]

Interesting play on colors between the rocks and the water.

I would prefer to see the tree/brush absent from the image or more included along the whole top of the frame. I cannot find a place to crop them now that feels right so would leave just as it is.

I like the FG framing and the inclusion of diagonals to strengthen the image.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Ron, I like the low angle with the water flow and pool acting as a leading line. The color and detail is also interesting. I'm also not a big fan of the tree backround and agree with Robert's thoughts. I did crop out the trees just at their base line and the image didn't look bad to me....

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Ron,
Agree with tree eviction comments.....just not enough presence for me to hold the corner.....I do think the crop below them a touch will work. Still nicely done overall though!

[Morkel Erasmus]

lovely colours and details Ron and I agree on either including more on top or slicing off some?

I'd be interested to know how Nik HDR efex compares with Photomatix?

[Arthur Morris]

If you crop out the trees then you ruin the nice rock upper right; there is not good spot for a crop. Them moment that I saw the image it screamed for more of the trees at the top. So I will swim against the tide here with only Mork considering swimming with me and ask, do you have more above?

I love the patterns of the water and the wet rocks.

And I love to see you posting here Ron :)

[Ron Bernstein]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to view the image and post criticisms! The original crop was essentially a full frame image, so I'm sorry, Artie, but I don't have more trees to add.

I am a fan of the image as composed, and I love the trees in the corner because they add a different texture, add context and have lovely, complementary coloration.

However, here is the requested crop. For those who thought this would improve the image, do you think it did so?

Having read these comments, if I was shooting this tomorrow, I would experiment more with doing a series without the trees, just focusing on the water and rocks. That's a take away for us all!

Thanks again!!!

[Ian Cassell]

The bottom line, Ron, is what do YOU like? Isn't that what really matters? Personally, I prefer the image without the trees (although I agree with Artie that it might be interesting to see with more trees), but that is my vision and not yours. I like your image as originally posted and I don't know, if I had been there at that time, whether I would have seen either iteration and I thank you for sharing your vision.