"Tones of the Tehachapi"

It has been awhile since I threw down a b&w. The color version is fairly flat and monochromatic, so the conversion was the best course of action. The composition was a no brainer. What started as a partly cloudy and colorful morning became a mostly cloudy and almost stormy looking day. This vantage point takes in alot of layers and there are lots of single oaks to compliment the scene. Thanks for your impressions and please make sure to view the Larger version which will remove the compression artifacts!

Thanks for any observations!

Nice composition and tones Mark! I like the work in b/w and the different levels from the first term to the farther mountains. Kind regards, Luis

Excellent compo ^^^ Warm regards

 

***Ali***

Mark, love the lines of the mountain ridges and the tones are just stunning. very nice!

Nicely done with a host of soft tones which makes the oak stand out against them. Processed beautifully.

Excellent - nothing more to say!!

This works very well in b& w. rek.

Kudos on a beautiful conversion. Excellent work...Lefty

Nice tones and composition, I like the way the light traces the ridge lines.

Thank you Luis, Ali, Andrew, Leo, MS Keil, Richard, Ray and Claude. Every time I shoot here in the early morn, the light catches the tops of the ridges and separates the various planes. I think that is what works well for this location. I hope to shoot here in the fall and the winter to see how the light differs. Thanks to all!

Mark- Excellent depth and composition.Great job bringing out the hidden beauty of the central valley.

Thank you David! Really enjoyed looking through your portfolio recently. Take care!

I see that you've received mostly 6's on this shot. In my mind it's a clear 7/7. It's really spectacular! This is SO beautiful. There is such luminescence with the light on the top of each ridge. The darker lone oak balances out everything just perfectly. This is going into my favorites!

Hi Christal! Thanks for your vote of approval. For this image, I have to agree with you. I think it is perfect in every way. What many may not know that I do is that the full res version is impeccable. It may sound as if I am tooting my own horn. I am and, well, we all need to from time to time.

I certainly agree with the comments you've received on this posting, Mark. It is an elegant and brilliantly processed black and white and completely captures the natural beauty of the California oak foothills of the Tehachapi Mountains. My only constructive critique is that I personally would have liked a touch more space between the edge of the oak and the left side of the frame, made more apparent when looking at this large (which it simply must be!). A minor nit though. Well done, and thanks for sharing, Amigo! Cheers! Chris