A Different Background

[Donald]

This one has sat for over a year. You might think it should have been left on the shelf.

I was thinking about the recent rockfall on El Capitan in Yosemite and went back to look at this (it is not El Capitan, but is in Yosemite Valley).

At the time of capture, I thought I had a good image, but I could never get it be what I wanted it to be once I got it back into the Digital Darkroom (the computer) .... until now. I've recently signed up to Photoshop (having used the GIMP and Elements before that) and was playing around with the the new Wacom Intuos Pro tablet that I bought to replace the old Bamboo .... and could see the image I wanted to make.

You can see how fragile the rock is. It may be granite, bit the fissures and cracks are all over it.

It is often said that you should wait a while before going into finish off the image that you captured. But I think over a year is a bit much. But it shows - never through out a RAW file.

Any critique you'd like to make will be welcome.

[Shadowman]

Hi Donald,

Have you considered rotating the image 90degrees, editing in that position, then rotating back to original position? I say so because there might be some elements within the image restricting your creativity, for instance you might be relying too much on the tree as an anchoring device and ignoring something within the rock formations. Would you concentrate on something else within the composition if the tree weren't present? Perhaps the tree is the only element of interest and the remaining rock formation is over utilized.

[billtils]

John

I like the tree! It is a nice size down at the bottom left and leads you up in a diagonal to the its shape mirrored in the darker rock element that runs up the right third (approximately). Take the tree away and you have a picture of rock textures, nicely captured but not the same impact for me.

Donald - yes it can pay to let things incubate.

[Shadowman]

John

I like the tree! It is a nice size down at the bottom left and leads you up in a diagonal to the its shape mirrored in the darker rock element that runs up the right third (approximately). Take the tree away and you have a picture of rock textures, nicely captured but not the same impact for me.

Donald - yes it can pay to let things incubate.

Hi Bill,

I have nothing against the tree but I think ignoring it during the editing process might free the mind to either emphasize or de-emphasize other elements within the composition.