Rainy West Elk range

[MattBurt]

This is another shot from my camping trip last weekend. This was around sunset and it was raining.
The delicate color and layers caught my eye and I came up with this composition. I didn't intend for such a centered horizon as I was concentrating more on the closer hills with my composition. Going wider introduced distractions and narrower eliminated things I wanted to include (like the green hillside and the colorful clouds).

IMGP5176-Edit by Matt Burt, on Flickr

Does the centered horizon kill the shot or does this work for you? I go back and forth but I think I have looked at it too much. 

[Mike Brown]

I assume to "fix" it you would crop the top? I tried this quickly with a piece of paper on the screen. The helpful result, I quite like both.

1) - As is - it feels to me a little abstracted. The main impression I am left with is the colour changes from green through blue to the pinky red clouds. The hills become a detail in this which I find myself noticing second. I like this though and the colour gradient is not one I have seen frequently.

2) - If I crop the top the hills become more apparent and feel more like they are becoming a key subject in the image.

There are my (probably not very helpful) thoughts on the image.

[luxborealis]

A beautiful moment, captured well, Matt.

The colour temp seems slightly cooler than perhaps it needs to be. Adding some magenta and/or warming it slightly will keep the colour gradation and perhaps make it even more interesting as you move from more green trees in the foreground, rather than blue-green, to still blue-ish hills and up into the sky for slightly more intense warm colours.

Also, may I suggest darkening the foreground hill slightly using a gradient mask. This will help "contain" the scene.

[MattBurt]

Thanks for the replies. They are indeed helpful. I'll try some of your ideas when I revisit the image.

My main concern was that I liked the current crop for everything, but wondered if that centered horizon was more of a problem than it looks to me. 

[Paulo Bizarro]

To me, this photo is about soft light and pastel colours, so the placement of the horizon does not matter.

[stamper]

To me, this photo is about soft light and pastel colours, so the placement of the horizon does not matter.

Agreed. Don't get hung up about the center placement. If that is your vision then go with it. Terry's suggestions have merit which means it is a good image that has more than one reasonable alternative rendering.

[MattBurt]

Thanks. This confirms what I was feeling, but I was afraid my own bias was leading me in a different direction than what would produce the best image.

[sdwilsonsct]

I have come back to this many times, so I guess I like it! Not sure about the colour cast, though.

[NancyP]

I like it as is.

[PeterAit]

A lovely scene, but with all due respect it just looks fake - over processed. The trees are too green, the hills are too purple (grape cool-aid?), and the sky is too orange. It does not look real at all. Is this what you want?

[MattBurt]

A lovely scene, but with all due respect it just looks fake - over processed. The trees are too green, the hills are too purple (grape cool-aid?), and the sky is too orange. It does not look real at all. Is this what you want?

Well, yes and no. First thanks for the honest input.
It was actually a pretty surreal looking scene in person and the sage (not trees) really is that green when it's been wet. So I think it does portray the scene as I saw it and as much as a telephoto-compressed image can.
In processing I do try to bring out the traits of the scene that I think are important. Maybe I went too far? Probably a matter of taste. I like Velvia film too, even though it may not make a 100% accurate representation of the scene.

[MTGFender]

I love pastel color of this picture.

[luxborealis]

In processing I do try to bring out the traits of the scene that I think are important. Maybe I went too far? Probably a matter of taste. I like Velvia film too, even though it may not make a 100% accurate representation of the scene.

I agree with you. Matt. In art, there is no such thing as "100% accurate." If this were a watercolour, I doubt anyone would have trouble with "accuracy". If we want photography to be treated as art, then I feel we need to ditch the "first principle" of every photograph being a document and start looking thinking as other artists do.

[MattBurt]

I agree with you. Matt. In art, there is no such thing as "100% accurate." If this were a watercolour, I doubt anyone would have trouble with "accuracy". If we want photography to be treated as art, then I feel we need to ditch the "first principle" of every photograph being a document and start looking thinking as other artists do.

Thanks. I try to maintain some accuracy but obviously not absolute. For what it's worth I went to art school as a watercolorist so that has certainly influenced my style.