Joshua Trees

Nice mood and dramatic scene.

I decided to take a drive a few day ago hoping to find something to

shoot with my toyo 4x5 camera and some b&W film. During the drive I

noticed a bunch of Joshua trees just off the road and decide to see if

I could get a pic, but after setting up, it turned out that I had to

wait for about an hour to get a shot seeing the sun disappeared behind

the clouds, so as I waited, I noticed that the cloud formation changed

a number of times, so when the sun finally appeared for just a few

min, this was the shot that I got, not the one I wanted, but the one I

got. input would be good.

The illuminated leaves of the foreground tree stand out against the dark cloud, which I like, and you have kept detail in the white clouds. The contrast between the clouds and sky makes the clouds stand out, but it seems overdone to me.  The effect of the red filter was too much.  There is detail in the shadows, but I think they are printed too dark.  I like it better with the shadows brought up somewhat.  With the dark sky, dark shadows, and heavy vignetting, it resembles a night shot with the flash not covering the whole scene.  Maybe that is the effect you were after - it does give the scene an additional unfamiliarity or alien look that works well with the Joshua trees.  But overall, I think a more subtle drama would work better here.

and I agree with Mark regarding the vignetting; it subtracts from a good image. Well taken though and you could always re-work it if you wanted.

Cheers,

Patrick

Nice use of the red filter. Maybe a bit overdone, but quite impactful with a nice composition. I don't see any vignetting. Nice work.