Sedona Has Ridges

[David Eckels]

I was reworking some images from a trip to Sedona in late 2012 and rediscovered this photograph. Sedona is mainly known for its red rock vistas, but there are other facets that are even more interesting to me. The textures of the landscape, shown here in late afternoon sun, lend an almost mystical quality that I find fascinating. This is part of an ongoing project to catalog images that tell a story of the fantastic beauty of the Verde Valley in northern Arizona.
Kind of puzzling over this one so C&C welcome

[Chairman Bill]

Nice

[Rajan Parrikar]

Beautiful layers, David. I am not sure the wide sky adds that much.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I like the layers a lot.
I would be tempted to crop a little off the bottom and much of the sky (down to just below the interesting clouds) so the vewer's attention is really on the layers.

Lovely shot.

[David Eckels]

Beautiful layers, David. I am not sure the wide sky adds that much.

Thanks, Rajan. Yes, I have been struggling a bit with that, plus the crop angle seems a bit off, but then there are some weird perspectives from that vantage point. For example, the distant ridges are actually opening away L to R. Tried something a little different, but I will have to live with it for awhile.

[brandtb]

David. There are some very nice qualities to the image. I think following comment is spot on

I would be tempted to crop a little off the bottom and much of the sky (down to just below the interesting clouds) so the viewer's attention is really on the layers

The real interesting thing is the middle ground section...but there is this massive nearly black portion (hits like a thud) in the frame which absolutely detracts from this (and the sky to a lesser extent). I would look at it with the bottom 1/6 cropped off...and also with some of the blacks/dark shadows pulled up...so it's not such a hard dark silhouette...which is telling a different "story" than the soft grades of the middle ground. /Brandt

[stamper]

The second version is the winner though I do like wide skies if they have interesting features. Processing looks fine to me.

[David Eckels]

Thanks for the comments, all! I have this "thing" for a 1:2 AR anyway, so I'm gonna go with this
PS Sorry for cropping. Mea culpa

[RSL]

David, it's a fine shot and the PP was excellent. Don't pay any attention to the croppers. The original is by far the best version.

[David Eckels]

David, it's a fine shot and the PP was excellent. Don't pay any attention to the croppers. The original is by far the best version.

But I was the cropper!

[RSL]

But you weren't going to crop it until Rajan and Eric mentioned a crop. I'm not thrilled by the horizon falling in the center of the frame, but it's a very good picture nonetheless.

[David Eckels]

I have been working this over, flogging it really. Can't get a square crop to work well enough. Realize this is an extreme crop of a D800E frame, probably 8 inches on the long side at 300 ppi. I need to let it rest because the color is starting to look screwey to me. Maybe I'll just go b/w and be done with it!
Thanks for the comments and suggestions!

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

I have been working this over, flogging it really...

Have you tried self-flogging? After all, you are guilty of slidercide

[David Eckels]

you are guilty of slidercide

Yes, of course, it's my nature and I can't help it Actually I have been playing with Tony Kuyper's v4 actions (very slick) and, as you know, my deft and subtle touch is not yet fully developed. In my defense, the print looks pretty good and so I plead for a reduction to involuntary pixelslaughter 

[RSL]

I think the original had a calmness that's been lost with the cropping and PPing. But the final product always is a personal choice.

[MattBurt]

Thanks for the comments, all! I have this "thing" for a 1:2 AR anyway, so I'm gonna go with this
PS Sorry for cropping. Mea culpa

That's gorgeous!
We see that effect here in the summer regularly and I'm also pretty taken with it. It's especially good on a clear evening when there are distant wildfires providing some haze.

[David Eckels]

So this is primarily directed at Russ, but I would love to hear commentary and opinions from others as well.

Below, exact same picture pp, obviously different AR. Do they invoke different "feelings" about the image. I realize, as Russ has pointed out to me numerous times, that it is all a personal choice, but does a square crop contribute to calmness for some reason? Brandt has also shared with me some interesting thoughts regarding rectangular AR; maybe he'll make them public? Or, perhaps Slobodan needs to recommend for me another art book as long as he doesn't arrest me for "slidercide"

After viewing, I realize there is a difference in the area of each version that might throw the eye "off" a little. Don't know if that would be significant. Attached an additional square crop with very close area to 1:2 AR version, just for grins.

[RSL]

Hi David,

I think that when an artist chooses a version of a work to show to the world he's defining the message he wants the piece to transmit to his viewers. To me the first version of this picture is one that gives me a feeling of calmness and openness missing from most of the others. The mid-frame horizon adds to that feeling as does the square format. To me, that picture is saying “Here's a piece of the Creator's work that tells us all is well with the universe. The sky is open. The layered hills are asleep. Tomorrow is over the horizon.”

The other versions are okay technically. In fact, from the standpoint of formal composition they probably are more correct than the first. But they don't convey the same message to me. In those versions I miss the message you're trying to transmit. On the other hand, as I said earlier, that's a personal point of view.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Even though I suggested a crop, I think Russ has nailed it (as he often does). Looking at all of the versions since the first I feel that they are cramped. Your original post just feels right to me.

With all of the attempts to "improve" the original image, this thread is quite illuminating.

Eric

[David Eckels]

Russ, thank you for your rationale although, without taking anything away from it, that is also an opinion. Maybe this is way certain images speak to certain people, if at all, and other images speak to others? You told me once before to generally trust my first inclination and to strive to avoid creating simply to please others. With so many accomplished photographers in LuLa land, it's sometimes hard to trust my own inner voice.
Eric, I agree this discussion is illuminating (no pun intended; luminous landscape, get it ) This is why I so much appreciate being able to post in User Critiques. Many different points of view. Thanks to all.