Puddles in the desert

[MattBurt]

There's just something magical about desert puddles to me. Little fleeting oases of nourishment and light that we don't often see and then they disappear again as quickly as they arrived.
It's been an unusually rainy summer this year so they haven't been as rare as some years but I still can't resist them.
Last night I was taking an after work bike ride on local trails in the high desert (~7700 Ft.) with a small kit in my pack (Pentax K-5 & three small primes: the DA 15/40/70 Limited series) and I discovered some new puddle locations I had never noticed before. The light was changing so I stopped and hung around for a while to see if it would get good around sunset and I was rewarded with a few minutes of golden low angle light.
These were both shot with the K-5 and the SMC DA 15/4
IMGP5096-Edit by Matt Burt, on Flickr

IMGP5099-Edit by Matt Burt, on Flickr

[Tony Jay]

Beautiful light and wonderful clarity!
Well done.

Tony Jay

[tom b]

Well done!

Cheers,

[francois]

The light is wonderful, warm and welcoming. Both shots look like paintings.
Thanks for sharing.

[Paulo Bizarro]

For me, #2. In #1, the out of focus foreground in the puddle is distracting.

In #2, the relative dimensions of the elements are better preserved; the right most puddle in #2 is the puddle photographed in #1 (where it is very exaggerated due to the close up with the wide angle.

Wonderful light and place.

[MattBurt]

Thanks! I cropped the first one to eliminate some of that oof foreground but I agree it may not have been enough.

[jerryw]

Hi Matt,

Raw Image enjoyment: I like this one the best - it holds my interest past the initial glance many images get.  Attractive and colorful, has places for my eye to wander, interesting subject and light.

C&C: Looks a touch over-processed IMHO - maybe tone down the clarity and/ or vibrance sliders a tad? 

Cheers

Jerry

IMGP5099-Edit by Matt Burt, on Flickr