Lunar Highlands

[churly]

I have been out of internet contact for a while and am once again just getting caught up on older posts.
Thanks for having a look - critique welcome.

Chuck

[Christoph C. Feldhaim]

I'd call this a lovely background shot.
The light and the textures are lovely, but something is missing.
Its the kind of image I like for one or the other reason and then have the feeling
I miss a subject, like an animal or something that would grab my attention.
I hate it when it happens to me, I always have the feeling of a missed opportunity.
Just my - purely subjective - ideas.

Cheers
~Chris

[francois]

I like it, it's a perfect representation of a mineral world.

[Paulo Bizarro]

To me, this is a fantastic shot. The interplay of textures, lights, colours, is wonderful. The way the background crevices are flowing into the "valley" of the rocks in the background is very effective.

[jmlamont]

I think the image has great potential: lovely texture and contrast both tonally and in the colours. Simple sinuous lines. But a more clearly defined composition may work better: for me there are actually two more powerful compositions in this image, as I've tried to show roughly here. Also I've darkened the images somewhat and increased the contrast in the highlights (i.e., done a Grey Point Curves pulldown). To save space I've dropped the JPEG colour quality fairly low, but I think the idea should still come through.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Chuck,
I like the shot as is. I'm glad there is no animal to "grab my attention" as that is not what the photo is about.
Also, I like your original crop and processing better than jmlamont's suggested versions.

I wish I'd taken it!
 

[churly]

Thanks everyone for the comments.  You have offered a variety of different perspectives.

Christoph - A strong focal point is always nice.  I was thinking shapes and textures when I shot this and thought that the window in the ridge with the converging lines behind it (as Paulo pointed out) provided a focal point but it is pretty subtle.

jmlamont - I agree, there are several possible crops - I wanted to use the window in the ridge as suggested above.  IMO the shadows in your crops are pushed back a bit too much.  Thanks much for your response and interest.

Eric - I made a couple attempts on this one but came back to this one as the one that came closest to what I wanted.
 
Francois and Paulo - mostly clay minerals in this one.  For Paulo - Cretaceous mudstones from the NA western interior seaway exposed in a breached anticline.

Chuck

[sdwilsonsct]

I was interested in Lamont's edits, wondering if the original has enough focus. But I think it does.