Mono Lake

here is the huge amount of unreal clouds and nonsense rocks. I extracted some fragment and now I start see the stone which lasts long, the tree which dies, the space which is eternal and the cloud which is here for the second

Stephen Penland - I love your sense of humor :)

While I stick by my earlier romancing the clouds comment, I would like to add that I - like many other posters on this image - do not enjoy the rocks. I'm not sure if a change in POV was possible. If it were, certainly exposing the bottom of the tree instead of having it shoot out of a silhouetted rock would have been a good idea. And perhaps less silhouette and/or less rocks.

Evgeni - I do love the works in your portfolio. This one, not totally sold.

Cheers all ~
Alberta

I like it, esp. the black & white treatment. The texture in the water, sharp big rocks (blocked shadows don't bother me as much as others) flowing up to the smooth voluptuous clouds does make for a romantic image. It isn't perfect, but then again neither is nature. I love the clouds - which make it interesting for me. I've seen lenticular many times and these are great, UFO like to be sure, but all part of the natural world here on earth.

The tree does seem a bit odd set in the middle, but I like the concept of a brush that has just painted the sky.

It would be fun to see how a few other photographers captured that evening.

The image leaves me mainly with doubts. There is much to like - I like the B&W high contrast, and I like the setting we're looking at. The clouds are spectacular, and they do not give me the idea of being photoshopped. So would they be, it's done very well. It has the complete setting for a really good landscape photo. Personally, I'm no fan of square photos, but in this case, I'm not too bothered with it. However, the central placement of the tree does bother me. It renders a kind of equilibrium that the rest of the photo does not mimick, and to me strangely makes the tree almost feel out of place. And ultimately, that leads me to the doubts...
The central placing of the tree makes for a calm, serene landscape, supported by the etherreal clouds, the water, the remote mountains. Romantic, as mentioned before. And the edgy rocks and the tree make for a far less serene idea, the high contrast and these angular shapes give more a near-threatening feel of a horror movie beginning. Now, it's not the fact there is a tension between these two, that disturbs me. It's the fact that it remains completely unresolved. It begs the question: what does this photo want to tell me? I'm fine with a dichotomy, but this contrast seems a bit too much.

It does make it a very interesting choice to discuss, though, and a fascinating photo. But whether I like it.... no idea.

I think this is a good image. In my opinion, it would go from good to great if tree didn't intersect the cloud or if the cloud were lighter. I like the contrasts between the shades, but that breaks down at the top of the tree. If that part of the clouds were to the right, I think this would be a much stronger image.

I've just returned from Paris and have been out of the evolving discussion. Just a few words.

My first word for this image: Interesting.

My second word: Why?

My third word: Clouds.

If this image seems off-kilter it is because the clouds are so overwhelming. All the other elements are standard black and white Good Stuff. But those clouds! I have never seen anything like them. The eye is inexorably drawn to them. Forget the black and white Good Stuff. It will keep. You see it again in another POW. But those clouds are a chance in a lifetime.

Without those clouds this would not be a particularly noteworthy shot. The clouds do overwhelm, they do dominate, they do toss the composition off balance. But is any of that, including the latter, a bad thing? I think not.

This not be great photograph. Once the novelty has worn off so has my affection. Yet, I think this is a worthy photograph in that it forces you to rethink the elements of composition. In so doing, it forces you to rethink how you view nature. The fact is that we artists, no matter how experimental we are, are tidy creatures at heart. And we impose that tidiness on nature. Nature, however, is far from tidy (in the aesthetic sense) and it is images like this that remind us of this fact. It puts all that we do as artists into question, and that is good and healthy.