Summer's end in the Eastern Sierra, near Bishop, California

The water table had been high all summer along the Owens River near Bishop following a

winter of very heavy snows in the Sierra Nevada, resulting in an unusually dense display of

wild sunflowers. I thought the clouds above the valley might light up beautifully at sunset,

and I thought of photographing this spot which I had scouted a few days earlier.

Everything came together, including a nice little crescent moon.

 

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Wonderful landscape. I like the composition and combination of colors and forms. Impressive clouds. Congrats for this picture.

Great shot of a beautiful location. The exposure is spot on and the colours are fantastic. Could you have squeezed the whole cloud formation into the frame?

Really beautiful shot Justin. What a location... spectacular tones. The clouds are simply amazing. Congratulations.

 

Kind regards. Agustin David.

Great shot. Wonderful colours, and composition. Best regards!

A realy beautiful photo of this great landscape and wild flowers. Fantastic colours and light. Well composed and presented. Regards LKV.

Great sky and field of flowers. 6/6

I just saw the thumbnail and exclaimed - I've seen that photo before in Justin Black's gallery! :)

 

Wonderful scene, and very well shot. Great exposure, and a beautiful composition too!

 

Just a small nitpick - the slightly darkish corner in the bottom left where the flowers are absent - looks a bit out of place. I would prefer to crop that part off, like in the attachment.

 

If you have a shot that is slightly panned to the right, that would make it ideal.

 

Cheers!

Hi Ashutosh,

 

Many thanks for your kind words and input. That is an interesting crop, and I do like it as a variation on the original, but the only time I crop is when I create a 6x12cm pano from a 4"x5" original, and this only when I made the pano image with that intention in mind. I prefer to get the composition I want in-camera. If I feel the composition in the context of the whole frame fails, I prefer not to print it, and try again under similar conditions to get the shot full-frame. My reason for resisting cropping has to do with my belief that photography is a practice, or in other words, it's an ongoing learning experience that has to be practiced in order for the photographer to stay sharp and at the top of the game. Therefore, I only print images that I consider my best work, and I don't consider images that require significant cropping to be my best work. Perhaps this is an overly arbitrary and unnecessary self-imposed rule, but I think it encourages discipline and growth.

This shot is pure unadulterated Galen Rowell. Well done.