Maxwell Valley

Nice use of layers to convey depth, John. The tones and contrasts work well too. It Perhaps burn in that bright bit of cloud at the very top...

honestly, I can't decide whether it's a picture of the dramatic sky, or of the beautiful rock formations. I want it to be the rock because they have a great range of tones, but they are cropped suddenly on the bottom. The sky is nice, but not quite dramatic enough to hold the image on its own, which is what I'm looking for considering the bottom edge where the rocks leave me hanging.

 

I'm rewarded a little by either trimming off the brighter, foreground rock, or a large portion of sky, in both cases making a long narrow image.

 

What's your instinct?

Ahhhh ! :-) I'm going to disagree with Doug on this one. I see this as a picture about the wonders of nature. I hope that solves the problem...? I mean: can't it be both about the rocks AND the sky as 2 parts of a totality ? Maybe I would like to see a bit deeper down there hat's going on, as it would actually add unity to the image, but I guess that wasn't possible, or if it was, then maybe 5 minutes later, or 10 minutes before, or so... But here, you got the rays instead, and the light is really magnifiscent to me. I'm also totally impressed that you managed to keep so many details in the rocks, given the strength of the highlights... Any Zone system involved here...?

Nice, John. I like this, I can really feel the peace there - that's rare for me looking at a B&W landscape... Regards.

I feel I have just climbed to the top and lifted my gaze from the cliff to the amazing atmospherics. A beautiful view in a beautiful country.

Hi John!! Great landscape shot indeed, i have tried to crop it in different ways with less sky, but i did not felt i worked well.. maybe a very small top crop could work. On the left side i think i would consider taking a cm away, cropping out the small rock wich is grabbing some attention, but this is nitpicking.. ;) Regards!

Doug, I'm also a little unsettled about this one, hence offering it up for analysis. I agree with Marc, Atle, etc., that the sun rays are quite good, and it has potential overall. If I crop out the upper sky it changes the mood to a more brooding feel, as it eliminates the large patch of blue in the top and gives a higher percentage of cloud cover. I think that crop strengthens the unity of the elements though. I wouldn't like to crop from the bottom, so perhaps that answers your question. I think I need to print this one large, because for me an important element is to be able to enjoy every tree in the valley, every peak on the horizon, and that isn't possible with this small file.

 

Marc, generally I expose for shadows, develop normally, as you know using roll film doesn't allow for development control of each frame as the zone system requires. I normally use a spotmeter (Pentax digital), exposing for the darkest shadow in the frame. On this occasion I had to sacrifice the spotmeter to save weight, and just used the average-metering prism. I set the ISO to 64 (TMAX100), and added a couple of stops to compensate for the contre-jour sunlight. Developed normally in ID11, the neg densities look very good to the eye, and I'm looking forward to getting them into the darkroom. I've got one or two others from this trip I've yet to post, which I'd value an opinion on, when I upload them in the next few days. Cheers,

Beautuful

Yesterday I was thinking about this shot as I was walking towards my car when I noticed a nice sky overhead. I looked around: There were no nice rocks.

 

Lesson: Nice skies are more readily available than nice rocks.

 

Therefore, I would print for the rocks.

Agreed, print for the rocks. I'll repost it in a few weeks when printed. (The new darkroom is nearly finished!)

Interesting explanation, John. I'm actually quite surprised. I guess I imagined the contrast in this scene to be much higher originally than it was in fact.

I'd suppose that if your goal is to see every tree in the valley - and I agree with that goal very much -, you may need some pretty subtle burning in the central part of the image, trying to keep the feeling of light falling on it, while somehow getting the dark mid-tones to stand out from this middle portion of the image. Typically the kind of things that are easier to do in PS than in a wet lab... I wish you all the best in that sense, and I would have no clue how to pull it out in a wet lab... Anyway, great shot to me, which surely deserves the effort. Cheers.

Funny thing is, I'm confident I can do a good job of this in the wet darkroom, but don't have the skills to tweak it digitally! Cheers for now,

I love being late to photos like this one, 'cause it gives me the opportunity of learning from Doug and Marc's comment's and, here, to top it the added insight of the author0s

I should add that I find Doug's discovery about the rocks is very appropriate and, even, philosophical... LOL!

For me the rocks have it,that's where the emphasis should be. Go for it.Pete.

Beautiful! It's very pleasant to take a look at your b&w folder.

I like this one very much, it says just one word to me; "adventure"!

 

Is it just my eye or does it lean a bit to the right?

Hi John,

 

I quite like this one from the POWs. I like the sky mainly for its lower component. To me though the strongest element is the parabola that begins in the bottom left and follows the hills in the valley round. By cropping the top (and IMHO more 'normal' sky) the lower cloud can pick up from this curve. Your eyes then are drawn immediately to the center-right of the image where all the lines in the rock lead but are not trapped there. I would definitely print it.

My thoughts exactly, Matt. Thanks.

Newbie weiging in on a photo of a real photographer: I agree with the ohter posters that I'd like to see more of the interesting rock in the foreground. Nevertheless, a great picture especially if it can be printed big.

Very nice shot John. This extreme range of brightness is always a problem capturing it on film. When I saw this image I visualized it being darker in the sky. To test this out I selected the upper half of the image and darkened the top half above the rocks, and increased contrast slightly. It might be a bit overdramatic for some tastes, but it seems to me to balance out the upper and lower sections more evenly.

very nice.

I could also try selectively bleaching back a few of the cloud highlights to mitigate the darkness of the sky a little. Cheers,

Yes keep the lighter clouds in the upper part. I thought it would look better with the darker sky, too, but on viewing the darker version I go back to the original and want to leave it that way. The rocks are so dark, I think you need the top to be light to balance it. I mostly like the valley, though, as you have mentioned. What a glorious ray of sunshine.

Has a great sense of depth, with the mountains and the clouds. I almost feel like beeing there. Great lighting.

Great atmosphere - in both meanings of the word.

John, it's folders like yours that keep me excited (and challenged) in my own work. Great stuff.

Thanks Bill, that's very kind. Coincidentally, I'm planning to experiment with this negative in my darkroom tonight! Cheers