Columbia River Gorge

Your comments and suggestions are most welcomed...

This image looks lonely and dessolate. Wide open country and nothing around you. I think the B&W conversion really emphasizes this mood. I don't know if it is just me but I think the lone bush in the bottom left needs to either be cropped or cloned out. I would say cloned because I like the empty landscap before the mountain. It is such a small thing but that dark splotch in the forground seems to want to distract me. Beautiful country BTW.

Thanks M and Don. Don I made a print of this and instantly came to the same conclusion as did you about that lone bush sticking its head where it doesn't belong. It will disappear.

 

Thanks Don too for commenting on the mood of the image. That's very important to me.

 

M. I too really like this composition. Thanks for your comments...

1st, the wide expanse of sky & clouds formation attracts me. Agree the mood of isolation. Would prefer a little more contrast of the rocks against the sky.

Dave, good tonal rendering here, and I like the proportion. Besides the bush, it appears to be a little soft on the land - could be the web compression, or my eyes at this late hour.

 

Definately one for a 4x5. Just imagine the detail!

 

cheers,

Aaron

David, well you like menacing sky...It works well, but I have again taken it out and croped some of it..., if you are interested I will upload it....

I agree, the isolation is very much present, I like the beautiful white clouds around the dark one.

I'll get to the bush in a second...

 

...the thing that drew me to this first was the way the top clouds seem to be racing down towards the land, almost as though the sky is falling. The lower clouds will act as a cushion for the hills, taking the impact of the fall. But when the banks of cloud collide, a mass of dark, tumbling storm clouds will form... a sense of space, and an impending storm, yes, it succeeds.

 

Now, what about that pesky bush... I don't think it helps the sense of space, might even work against it. But then I noticed the small cloud in the upper-right corner, and started pattern matching again( notice how the low, white, fluffy clouds above the grey horizon correlate with the mountains)...

 

Then, I looked at that scrub a little closer, a shape formed. And that shape was a horse with two riders! You see it? But who are the riders? Well, that obvious. A cowboy has fallen for a squay( that's not how you spell it, is it?). To the left, is the Indian camp( sorry, Native American, I know, but this is a 50's Western, PC is not the priority). To the right, we have the town. Now, of course, the women just happens to be the Chief's daughter, and the town aren't going to be happy with the cowboy shacking up with the enemy... which is where the rising storm comes in... they're caught in the middle, how will it end?

 

Its up to you, David, clone out the bush, and leave that cloud alone, spliting our poor lovers apart. Or will we have a happy ending, will they turn into the storm, ride into the background and find a cave in those hills and valleys, where they can build a home and raise a family?

Wonderful description Stephen...Can we go to the town and have a beer in the bar till the storm is over....? invite David Robinson, the cowboy and the chifs daughter?....

Thanks everybody for your comments. I am uploading a revision that is sharpened. This was a bit soft (thanks Arron and M for your suggestions). As to the bush or horse and riders, I didn't have the heart to remove it after Stephen gave his take on this. I have said before that Stephen has the most vivid imagination. Pnina maybe one of these days we'll have that beer. I hope so...

 

And Stephen yes I do painly see the horse and riders. There is no way I could remove them now...

A happy ending! At least until their son grows up, decides to visit the town, gets picked on by some local hoodlums because he's half-cast, has to proof himself to the town by fighting the tribe of his mother, who, entirely conicidently, are attacking the town, and... well, we should leave it there.

 

Sharpening is an improvement...

I camr to see what i've been missing lately and i found this great shot.Wonderful sky and fantastic B&W-it looks like one can see to eternity.Best regards,Judy

Another huge sky David! This has a tremendous expansive feeling to it. I'm untrouble by the bush. After all, medieval ladies used to paint moles on otherwise unblemished faces to break up the beauty, and perhaps the bush performs that function here. Although, if you were 'painting' it on here, it might have been nice in the LL corner... Regards, Leigh.

Ok, now that Stephen has pointed out the shape of the bush I like it. It really has added to the image.

David, this is an awesome photo, the sky is breathtaking, I agree, the bush in the foreground can go. Cheers, Sondra

Superb landscape, probably a good decision the B&W (I tried to imagine the color version, because I am usually for color, but the B&W underlines favorably the compository qualities here). Gorgeous cloudscape, intriguing the effect of the super wide perspective in the upper part. I like most Leigh`s idea about the bush, what about a transplantation to the lower left ;-)

David, a magnificent shot - we are looking at the desert hills and above us is the sky. I agree with the 4x5 comment - this is a shot which asks to be printed up large. I agree with Cherlyn about the mountains but to me the foreground tree does not intrude that much.

Colin's right - this is magnificent. It's all about the clouds and the big sweeping rise from the right to the top of the frame, mimicked in the right hand ridge running up to the buttress in the near rock formation. I don't get lonely so much as empty. And as for the bush, well, that's one Bush I can live with - at least it belongs there ;-)