Delicate Arch

This is a sunset at Delicate Arch, in Arches National Park. Just a few

minutes before my other posted photo and from a higher vantage point.

Please let me know what you think and how it can be better. -JZ

 A stupendous picture John. Beautiful sharpness, saturation and colors. I really miss scenes like this here in FL where we live in a place as flat as a card table! The image has very good balance and you placed the horizon on a horizontal third, something that is missed quite often in landscapes here on this site, sadly. Horizons in landscapes dead center in the frame often look very static.  

If I may make a suggestion. I think you could improve the composition a little bit by moving that depression in the center slightly off center.

I was debating that as well. The Pro is to remove the people but for some reason I like the balance of the distant horizon being visible on both sides. Not sure though, it has been a hard one for me to stay objective of.

Great subject matter, and I like the composition just as it is for two reasons.

1. The people add interest and scale to the image which for me is very useful as I'm not familiar with this area. (it might even be an idea to make them more prominent, but I realise that very subjective)

2. The visible horizon on both sides again provides the vast scale of the surrounding area, whilst the arch and the rocky outcrop to the right seem to balance themselves well being diametrically opposite each other.

My suggestion for improvement is to simply take the shot a few minutes later as the sun just dips below the horizon. I find that the colours and illumination of the surrounding terrain becomes more pronounced, the details more sharp and the light more balanced. Of course you may already have done just that, and this could be just 1 selection of the images that you took. But to summarise, this is a powerfully composed shot, and with some great features and detail, (the contours of the depression are particularly eye catching) and I look forward to seeing more.

Best Regards

Alf

John,

You have captured a lovely scene here.  For my tastes, this has a strong HDR look to it and for me it detracts from the naturalness of the scene. If you wanted a HDR look then great. However if you would like this image to look more real I would suggest manual blending - it is cumbersome - but the results can be very realistic looking.

Regards,

Christoph

This is two blended photographs to bring back the detail and I did manually merge the two. I guess I am wondering what looks too off? I would like for it to look more "real" while also closer to what it was like being there. The colors are pretty close. Please be more specific with what looks too off.

Thanks

Excellent colors and composition!!

I love it in my opinion is just perfect !

Thank you everyone. My experiences lately have been great on Photo.net. I truely appreciate all of the helpful and supportive comments, as well as those with suggestions. It can only make our quality of work go up.

Again Thank You,

JZ

your composition if fine; it balances the arch on the left and the butte on the right, cropping disturbs this balance in my opinion.