Monument Valley Photo

Photographer’s Note

Monument Valley has an amazing range of colors.
The storm clouds offer a contrast to the red
rock formation.

Nobody has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Bstnphilippe (123) 2006-05-27 21:15

This probably WAS a beautiful picture.

It is way overprocessed for me but this is only my opinion. The rest of the picture is just brilliant. Good composition, beautiful lanscape...not sure about the colours, it looks like a colourised movie!

Regards,

Bastien

yacro (188) 2006-05-27 21:49

Usually I would overwhelmingly like this kind of picture, as its got so much going for it. However, I agree that this picture looks overprocessed and looks just slightly more unnatural than I like. However, still a great photograph with great POV and scence composition.

kajenn (2323) 2006-05-27 22:51

A highly impressive first upload from you, Terry, welcome on board TE. A splendid POV and composition, which leaves nothing else to wish for. The close-up rocks, the eroded mountainside and the distant formations create a depth in the image and a complete description of this, to me, strange place. And the sky adds some extra drama. The advantages and clarity of a large format camera are obvious. Very well done!

partha (13655) 2006-05-28 0:40

First I welcome U to join in TE.
Very good start.
Composition is well balanced and the sky looks dramatic.
partha

ElSato (824) 2006-05-28 1:04

Terry,

First of all, welcome to TE. I hope you find it interesting here and can make it more interesting for the rest of us as well with your expertise.

This photo is, more than anything, amazingly well-composed. The layering, with fields of view progressing from close foreground to the butte in the far, far distance, is creatively done and is no small achievement. On top of that, it's done so subtly that at first one doesn't even notice it, simply accepts it. Only on taking a step back do you notice how finely crafted that view is, and that subtlety is itself difficult to achieve.

As for the colours, I happen to be a fan of saturated colours (and moody looking clouds for that matter) so you won't hear me complaining.

Besides, taking pictures of the desert is a tricky thing. Does this photo have a slightly artificial look? On my screen, yes, but to post a photo of the desert that is merely realistic tends to do the scenery an injustice. Deserts are spectacular places, but in my experience photos of them that are too literal look anemic compared to the real thing. Whatever you may have added here just gives the scene back some of the spectacle it likely had when seen live.

I look forward to seeing more of your photos.

Lee

jjcordier (24102) 2006-05-28 2:24

J'aime beaucoup la composition et le ciel nuageux mais j'aime moins le traitement des couleurs, l'accentuation et la saturation peut être trop forte.
Amicalement
JJ

danyy (67958) 2006-05-28 3:12

Bonjour Terry,
magnifique paysage, surexposé malheureusement sur la photo, un peu comme ce ciel pourtant fantastique .
Le cadrage lui est sans repproche.
Bienvenu sur TE.
Daniel.

langaloo (489) 2006-05-28 4:12

Hello Terry,
It is interesting to see how you were able to give as much importance to the concreet (rocks) and to the air (clouds).
Usually, pictures of the Great West is an Ode to Mineral Forces, here, the Sky is equally powerfull.

johnnyh (637) 2006-05-28 5:04

Hi Terry, first of all welcome to TE and I hope you enjoy this site as much as I do. This is a good first posting you have chosen, there is a good contrast between the rocks and the sky and the clouds look quite surreal and you can really feel the movement in them. Also good compostion and POV with the big rock on the righthand foreground, thanks for sharing regards John.

macondo (12973) 2006-05-29 3:39

Great composition, and obviously scanned. Tremendous, dramatic vista of remarkable geography, but you've got too much contrast, over-sharpening and noise reduction going on, I think. Only the right foreground looks naturalistic in colour and texture. If it's a scan you could give it another, more conservative go, perhaps.
Andrew