Mono Lake

Eugene ... magnificent shot. Great work, as always.

Billy

I agree with what Daniel said much earlier. This is not the usual Mono Lake shot.

The new Random Image Generator brought me to your image.

Excellent composition and tones.

Very poetic.

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I tend to be drawn to contrasts, and Evgeni has shown some striking contrasts in the smooth shape and soft tones of the clouds versus the sharp, jagged, silhouetted shapes of the foreground rocks and single tree. But it's the composition that just isn't working for me here. Instead of "standing apart" so that I'm better able to appreciate their dissimilarities, these two aspects of the photograph are connected because of the tree protruding up to the clouds. Instead of having to look left and the right, or up and then down, to take in the photograph, I just look one place and pretty much see it all. That lessens the impact of the photograph for me. If I mentally remove the tree, leaving just the undulating clouds and silhouetted jagged rocks, I think it improves the composition (at least to my mind's eye).

Evgeni,
Strength of the image is the black and white landscape, making it sober and giving it a stern countenance. The clouds, mountains in the distance, the dead tree branch and not forget the lake they all werk very well together to create a wonderful image and mood.
Coming to the weakness I think you made the image to dark. Especially the rock formation on the left side is too large and too dark. Lightening it up and cropping a good deal away will make the image a lot more accessible for the viewer. And brings back balance.
Kind regards,
Herman

I actually see potential in this approach to composition, though I agree with Stephen that there's something a little off about it. It's off kilter quality, to some extent, works for me. It doesn't make itself easy, but I do still find it rewarding. As seems to be so often the case with photos uploaded here, it looks over-sharpened to me, especially notable along the top line of the mountains and the tips of the tree branches, where the sharpening creates an outline along contrast edges. This doesn't seem like a situation where you'd want to blow highlights, so the curved and sensual edge of the cloud being blown is an eyesore to me. It commands attention but it's attention drawn to a technical flaw rather than an esthetic sublimity. I think it's a constrictive rather than an expansive composition, almost forcing me back in on myself as viewer and so it puts me in a personal relationship to the landscape. In some ways, I actually feel walled off. I think that is an interesting road to pursue, not necessarily looking for the grandeur that is so often found in a scene like this. The tree encroaching the space of the cloud, the fairly strong weight of the framing devices of rock and cloud make this a bit cluttered but for some reason I still want to like it. Perhaps it seems non-idealized for these reasons. There's a sense of more to come. Just turn the corner.

Fred, I too don't look at this as one of the grand landscape photographs that often end up in various favorites folder. It's a more narrow view, almost as if looking through a window. I like landscape vignettes like this -- a passing phenomenon that is very short lived, and Evgeni was fortunate to be at the right place at the right time. I think this kind of cloud formation is somewhat rare -- it doesn't happen at every sunset -- and that makes the landscape more appealing to many. It's these slices of passing natural phenomena that also have great aesthetic appeal that motivates much of my own photography. Different original motivations will lead to different goals and preferences among different photographers.

One aspect of Evgeni's photograph has not been mentioned, and it seems to be a very significant aspect; it's also a departure from the normal way of doing things that may be admired by many. With these undulating clouds and a setting sun, I imagine the color was spectacular. Had I been standing here, the thought of shooting in B&W probably wouldn't even have occurred to me, and I would have been watching the setting sun constantly change the colors in the clouds, all of which I would have been wanting to photograph. Evgeni let that color go and instead did a B&W that more strongly focused on the contrasting forms in the scene -- the undulating, sensuous clouds and the sharp, jagged outlines of the foreground rocks and tree. He chose a different emphasis, one that is probably not the norm, and in so doing he provided a different view of this area and of the fleeting natural phenomenon that was occurring in front of him. I admire him for that.

When I first saw this image, I thought there must be some specific intent with how the central tree is placed. As Stephen suggested, it is not expected and could be read as a bit awkward as well. My first thought, and the one that still seems true to me, is that the tree was placed there to suggest that it might have "drawn" these cloud ridges. What I mean is like the foam on your latte, when a master barista knows how to swirl the white cream and the brown mix of coffee and cream into a little rosette. Or maybe like on a desert, where raspberry sauce and a light cream sauce are drawn with a knife to create some artistic pattern, red and white.

In any case, i don't know how I really feel about this as a one off image but I like the play and imagination of it. I think it could be interesting if there was a body of work that played with this sort of idea--it could go either way, really cool or a bit kitschy. In this case, I couldn't find support for this idea as a theme in the portfolio, so it might be a one off or my own imagination working here.

I think a couple of people have mentioned the sense of off balance the image imparts and, for me, I don't think it is because of the shapes but due to the weight (more of a post processing issue) and where it is placed. Here, in the lower-to-mid left we have this very heavy rock (actually a Tufa). We know that dark objects tend to draw the eye and that light areas, larger ones, can counter balance such objects. But here, the lightest area is right over there on the left as well. All of the "strength/weight" of the image is on the left edge. The soft gray mass of the cloud is just having a difficult time pulling us back and giving balance to the image. It is dark, and large, enough to provide some counter balance but just not enough to bring us to equilibrium.

That brings me to the next point. Overall, there is a nice range of tones/contrast but there is very little to no local contrast anywhere in the image except in the water. I think the image still has some charm to it but I do feel that working the image a bit more would bring it in to better balance as well as give the viewer the ability to get into the image a bit more. (by the way, I think Fred made the comment about maybe feeling like one is kept out of this image. I think this feeling is part what I am talking about here but also the fact that visually, we have those two rocks at the bottom, center of the frame which do create a roadblock. This device generally will keep the viewer in a different place, psychologically, than when there is no impediment-or even a "path"- into the image.)

I think to bring the image into a bit better balance, the clouds could be given a bit more body, the tufa, especially the left one, could be opened up a bit and the sky, particularly in the upper left, brought down a tad as well. The movements don't have to be extreme but played with to bring them to a level where the mood is still as desired while the image becomes a bit more in balance. I may be missing something, but I don't feel that there is a reason for the image to be off balance.

In any case, I like the play here and think the image is nice but probably has more potential than we see. The tree is what it is and I think it will serve some and irritate others--but such is the life of the photographer.

It's an embrace - of tree and sky. It's very romantic. Interesting that all the comments are from males. And you just don't get it (in my humble opinion).

Or maybe, if we go down that road, erotic?

It is an incredibly atmospheric shot and like his whole gallery, beautifully captured, but I'm afraid I find myself wanting to step to the left in order to loose some of the rock and place the tree away from the centre. However maybe that was not possible and you wouldn't want to cut out some of that wonderful sky.
Regards, Tina.

Or... It's a dichotomy of the earth into different factions, different essences....of rock and sky. It's very expressive of these differences, each side well representing the nature of its personality. The tree interferes with this expression, darn it. And you just don't get it, because of your female point of view (IMHO). [All meant in sincere good humor, Alberta, as I can see your point of view even if I may not interpret the photograph that way. If I don't "get it," it's because I "get" something else from the photograph.]

The clouds look incredibly artificial, no? They scream "liquify" tool to me. They really bother me. (Of course, this will be followed by Evgeni saying that they are completely natural, and if he does, I will eat my hat.)

Also, maybe it's just because I'm looking at this on a small laptop monitor, but the way the bottom of the tree is hidden behind the rock seems kind of awkward. Perhaps if seen on a larger screen, it does not seem so.

Martin, google "Lenticular clouds" and you will see that this is very well within this phenomenon. I have been working on an image I took recently, ahead of a massive thunderstorm, that looks like a spaceship/manta ray-- these types of clouds can just take on incredible and unearthly form. On the east side of the High Sierra, where this image was made, this is not an uncommon type of cloud formation, although it certainly doesn't happen daily--at least in the same place...

Well, I may have to select a hat to eat, but I still don't think I like these clouds in this image. They have a spacey, UFO'ish look, whereas the rest of the picture has a spare, B&W look. The two don't seem to mesh very well.

Pretty interesting, though, lenticular clouds. Have never heard of them. Thanks, John.

Siskel & Ebert both agree, two thumbs up for this photograph.

I think because of the rock the tree works in the middle but I would of like to seen some detail in the upper half of the rock.

It looks to me as if Evengi used the rock to mask the sun. I like how doing so shows the sun's rays. The tree just happened to be there. The shape of the rock and the tree make the image busy for me. The 'stars' of this image are the clouds and the solar rays.