Alone

[Hilary Hann]

I have struggled with this image for the last 2 days trying to get the composition right and the right amount of texture to increase the foreboding nature of the approaching storm. I settled on a Maasai warrior walking to introduce a spot of colour and to give a sense of scale, poor bloke has been relocated from a nice walk in the evening with no hint of rain …

I have cropped mainly clouds from the top but also have a little more foreground which I cropped off as it holds little detail or interest. Would be happy to have + and - thoughts and how to improve it as it has almost defeated me!

[Dave Woeller]

Wow, great to look at, glad I'm not there I feel the crop works perfectly for this and you have captured the sense of scale that I think you wanted. I also agree that the spot of color really sets this off. Glad you saw this through to completion.

[Julie Kenward]

You really outdid yourself, Hillary. I think this is spectacular. You immediately get a sense of scale and that red is the perfect touch amidst all that foreboding brown. I almost feel sorry for him as he walks into the impending storm!

[Indranil Sircar]

Hilary, this is an outstanding composition... one of the best you have presented here! The pano crop, the menacing clouds and lone Masai warrior sets the context well for the title of your image. Excellent vision and work!

[Judy Howle]

One of your best Hilary! I love the addition of the warrior to add a sense of scale and a point of interest.

[Brendan Dozier]

Hilary, I also think you did an excellent job here with the image, texture, and colors to communicate a coming storm. I like where you placed the warrior, and adding him was a good choice, because we humans often like to separate ourselves from nature, when we can be just as fragile as any other creature to destructive forces both natural and man-made. I like how the warrior is leaning into the storm, but would like to see the legs just a tiny bit more clearly. The only thing I can think to add to the storms strength and power would be to have a bright piece of clothing or scarf blowing in the wind, either off him or his staff.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Hillary, a compelling image. The warrior gives the viewer a sense of scale and puts a human touch on the magnitude of the coming storm. The subject placement is good along with the added effects.
Nice one!!

[Hilary Hann]

Thank you everyone for the feedback, I feel greatly relieved that 2 sleepness nights worrying about it have paid off.

Brendan, I will see if I can improve the muscle tone of the warrior's legs!! The Maasai don't tend to wear scarves but I may be able to get some of his shuka to look like it is moving in the wind.

Funnily enough, in January when I was in the Mara I was starting to get a bit sick of the stormy weather as it meant that my usable wildlife images were thin on the ground, but I'm getting my money's worth now with more dramatic landscape style images. I don't think I would have got this far with my fine art images without the support from this forum over the last year, it has been quite a long road from there to here.

[Brendan Dozier]

Oh yes, Hilary, I've always had a bit of a fetish for African warrior legs!
I was just wondering if the rain storms out there have a lot of wind. Do they just kind of creep in and move slow for the most part?

[Hilary Hann]

I can best describe the storms as bubbles moving across the Mara plains. You can be standing in full sunshine, breezy but acceptable and see the storm cells moving in another area. Then you can see a cell moving towards you and it just encompasses you in heavy rain but I don't think of the storms as rushing with wind. You can move in and out of them but it does give the opportunities to get these amazing landscapes with light and dark and clouds and sun streaked grasses with the awesome escarpment background. Hard to describe really.

[Brendan Dozier]

You do a great job capturing the atmosphere of those storm clouds in your work, Hilary. I guess, regarding having the wind blow in your comp, and going along with your foreboding theme, the wind could be considered a change for the worse. Seems like there's been a lot of unusual weather happening these days.

[Anita Bower]

Magnificent forbidding clouds! Love how they come down low and dominate the scene. The colors are just right. The man adds the needed touch of color and size. Excellent composition. Well done!

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks Anita.

[denise ippolito]

Hilary, I like the feel and mood very much. I think your choice of crop really helps to make the clouds feel like they are pushing down from the sky. Excellent!

[Cheryl Slechta]

Hilary, I'm late to the show but this is exceptional. The sense of scale and drama and human story line really make this special. (I hope you've got more)

[Anita Bower]

Congratulations! This is a powerful image.