Death Valley Salt Flats

First visit to Death Valley. All Comments and Critiques welcome. Thanks!

Very good control of DOF and I like the structural aspect of this shot, but I think you over-did the curve/contrast tool. The sky is totally blown and you have some serious banding in it.

Nice work. Normally I'd tend to shy away from the somewhat oversaturated and blue take on the salt flats, but I think that it works well here in contrast to the reddish-brown of the hill.

 

I do think that the brightest portion of the sky just above the distant mountain range looks a bit burned out. Can you go back to the original and bring that down a bit? It would be good to see the subtle and smooth gradations of the upper sky continue down to the horizon.

 

Take care,

 

Dan

 

(I know this place well... :-)

This was an HDR image. Ill see if i can tone it down a bit. I usually dont post HDR's but this one came out better than usual. let me try for something more natural

I really like the low angle and the overall composition of this shot. Great work!

Very nice composition, nice contrast with warm vs cool colors.

That is lovely afternoon light on the hills. I'm guessing it was late enough in the day that the shadows were cast by the Panamint range to the west.

 

I like the sky better in this new version of the image. If you are still playing with it, you could try brightening the salt flat just a bit - e.g. doing a bit of levels adjustment or perhaps even a bit of dodging in the center section of the flat.

 

Or not... :-)

 

Seeing your photo reminds me of just how much I'm looking forward to my next return trip to Death Valley during the upcoming full moon!

 

Dan