Desert and Sky

[twood]

Taken mid-day at Joshua Tree National Park, California. Used a polarizing filter to reduce glare and bring definition to the clouds. Comments and suggestions welcome.

[NorthernFocus]

Hi, Tim. This shot is technically well executed. Well exposed, reasonable level of saturation, etc. Compositionally the image lacks a main subject to focus the viewer's attention. Placing an interesting rock, cactus, etc. prominently in the foreground would "anchor" the shot without reducing the effect of the vastness of desert and sky. Something to think about anyway...

[Manfred M]

+1 to what Dan has written.

If the image doesn't have a subject, it usually does not work, and that seems to be the case here. It's a nice scene, but there is nothing to focus on and our eyes wander all over the place.

The metadata says that you shot this with a 10mm focal length on a 1.5x crop sensor. The ultra-wide angle (UWA) focal length lenses are tricky to use and if you are not careful, you get a lot of foreground and a lot of sky. If you shoot with a UWA you usually need to include a significant element in the foreground to lock the viewer's attention.

Just another note, you shot at f/18. Check some Depth of Field (DoF) tables, I think you will find that shooting at f/11 would give you lots of DoF and you would not get the diffraction softening that stopping down that low will cause.

I also suspect that your polarizer was not adjusted for the scene and had little to no impact on the image. Polarizers shot with UWA lenses will give you banding in the image, and I don't see any.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[bnnrcn]

Nice scene, I like the cloud formations

[IzzieK]

1 to Dan's comments.

[John 2]

I'm afraid that it looks like you have been hijacked. Happens from time to time. The only cure is to re-post the image.

[Dave Humphries]

I'm afraid that it looks like you have been hijacked. Happens from time to time. The only cure is to re-post the image.

I agree, I'm not seeing an image (in UK, like John 2) that fits the descriptions - it will fix itself in a few hours or a couple of days at most. This problem very likely only affects UK based viewers.

That said, re-posting the image, via a new upload to TinyPic will fix it sooner.

[outwithmycamera]

I agree with other comments here - and especially since the top of that yucca is in the picture, that could have just been begging to be the focal point of this image. I understand how those big skies can distract you, I generally like a lot of sky, just want a wee bit more in front.

[rpcrowe]

I am not a great aficionado of UWA lenses for landscapes because of the reasons stated above. I agree that the yucca could have been the close subject which might have added impact to the shot...

[twood]

I am not a great aficionado of UWA lenses for landscapes because of the reasons stated above. I agree that the yucca could have been the close subject which might have added impact to the shot...

[twood]

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. I agree. It would have benefited greatly from a sharp focus foreground subject. I look forward to applying your suggestions.

[Wavelength]

What is there in the image is really beautiful; what is not there in the image is really missing