california -- june 2008 Mono Lake, South Tufa, Dusk (Vers. 3)

Alright, this is version 3 and I am finally happy! Thank goodness.

This is really the shot I wanted so badly to work out. It captures what interested me most about Mono -- the towers themselves and the salt-crusted sage-brush exposed by receding waters. I really wanted a tightly framed shot from within the tufa, with some branches of brush and with an interesting sky and background -- I view the framed little cloud as a huge bonus. The blue-pink colour palette fits my memory well too -- I remember thinking how "fleshy" the tufa looked in the pink sunset and the blue twilight sky was beginning to wash into the sky high above me.

Here is Version 1 (from a different RAW file) and Version 2 for the interested.

Version 3 is version 2 with a gradient filter applied and using the colour dodge blending mode in PS3.

Tough call Ian - I like all 3 versions. The darker sky really sets off the foreground and the darker background flattens the depth adding a surreal feel to the image.

Thanks for the feedback John. In some ways it is quite odd that the darker background gives this an (even greater) feeling of surreality for you since the darker sky is, in fact, closer to reality.

 

There are things I like about the darker sky and it would be close second choice to this. But, this is what really works for me.

I have had some difficulty deciding what I wanted out of this sceneand have posted a couple of versions now. I want to thank all thosewho commented or rated the previous versions and I apologize forsending out yet another. But, this should be the last copy.

All comments are welcome and thanks for your time.

very nice 6/6 anon

Nice work Ian! I really like the color and the luminosity. A very eye-catching image.

The comp feels a touch tight to me. I would like to see a bit more space around the sides and top. I see some slight halos around the tops of the spires.

Ian,

 

Really good exposure. The angle you've chosen gives us good sky to see. I like how you included the reflection of the tufa's on the right rather than polarizing them out. Composition is good but I keep wanting so see just a little more space at the top.

Tony, Chip, Jeff, thank you all.

 

I knew I was creating a tight composition on the sides and that was largely intentional. I wanted to viewer to feel as closed in and surrounded by these towers and one feels while there in person.

 

However, I hadn't noticed/considered the top. Now that it is pointed out, I might like some additional space at the top too. Oh well, even if I cloned some additional space at the top, it would ruin the 4x6 aspect.

I like it....Great exposure..