JeffBryce

Certainly has a painterly quality about it. Nice funneling composition too.

Looks like rich glazes of fine pottery! Nature is amazing. Nicely captured.

Hi Tony, 911 aside, you have certainly captured the coldness of "the city". B&W is perfect for the hard edges of all the manmade chaos. The plane adds a twisted humor element. The inclusion of the barbed fence is perfect. Great job! Regards, Jeff

This seems to be lacking sharpness throughout. I'm assuming it was handheld?

Very masterful.

Verticals attract me. This is very nice. I viewed your whole portfolio and Scotland has definitely got a hold of you; and you have certainly captured it as I remember it when I was there in June 2008. All the best, Jeff

Hi Tony, You have cropped the B&W image on the right side. Without the stone the image feels left-heavy. I like the stone on the right in the color version. Also, maybe part of the problem is that there is just too much going on in the foreground as the sea foam competes with the clouds. All the best, Jeff

Great light and interesting formation. Too bad about the footprints.

Soft color & calm are nice. It's a bit heavy on the right side though. Something in the mid to foreground on the left may have helped with the balance.

Joshua, I really like the composition and point of view. Very different and refreshing! Very clean image! The only thing negative is that I wish I'd have been there too! Regards, Jeff

I like the simplicity of this crop. Well spotted and processed.

Hi Alf, For me, I think that the D810 will prove to be a better camera than the D800. So far, I'm impressed with its apparent sharper focus and silky shutter. However, I did most of my processing in Capture NX2, and as of this writing the software does not support the D810. So, I bought Lightroom 5 and hopefully I'll have something posted this month! Regards, Jeff

Hi Alf, Very artistic. Looks like you may have a few spots on your sensor though. As you may know, sensor dirt is more pronounced at smaller f/stops, such as f/22 used here. There are two spots near the left edge, another one in the water about 3 o'clock from the sculpture, and another at 1 o'clock in the sky. Perhaps there are others, but these are the ones that jumped out at me. I hate to see dirt ruin a good image! Regards, Jeff

I really like the background light and colors.  And I like the leading lines through the valley.  This place appears to have huge potential.  But the overall image does not seem sharp to me, and the shadowed areas seem dull.  I often try to locate the focus point in a photo, but I can't easily find one here. 

It looks like there is a problem with the processing because the image really falls apart in the shadowed area. It is noticeable even on the thumbnail.

This looks like a very pretty spot with lots of potential. I like the even lighting here. If you have another chance to shoot this, you might want to try a wide-angle lens and experiment with faster shutter speeds. Regards, Jeff

I'm reminiscing the scene from Once Upon a Time in The West when the gorgeous Claudia Cardinale & the whacky coach driver descend into Monument Valley past the West & East Mittens and Merrick's Butte... so beautiful! But only a few seconds of film! I don't feel anything special about this shot, however. The light is harsh and the three buttes are just "there"-- like a snapshot (as if you were just passing through at the wrong time of day). I often like to include three elements in a landscape. Sure, you have three big rocks(!), but what I mean is a fore-, a mid-, and a background element. You have a strong midground (the rocks), but the clouds are weak and the inclusion of a foreground element may have helped with sense of scale and more importantly drawing the viewer through the scene. Having said all this, I have been to Monument Valley a few times and have stayed overnight in the motel, and so I realize that the viewpoints here are limited! Regards, Jeff

This looks like a great place. Is there a reason why you didn't include much to the right side of the falls (perhaps a rock wall is there)? As it is here, the composition doesn't feel balanced because it is split half falls and half rock. Also, did you try any verticals? Regards, Jeff

Daniel, I understand your concern about sensor cleaning. I was nervous when I cleaned my first sensor about 8 years ago, but now it's a breeze. For me, the most effective method is to wrap a sensor swab with a Pec-Pad and add a few drops of Eclipse (or similar) fluid. Sometimes you get lucky and it takes just 2 passes. Other times it takes a dozen. Make sure to change the Pec-Pad on each wipe. Jeff

I really like the lead lines.  In scenes with strong lead lines I tend to go wide (usually 16-20mm range in full frame) and vertical format.  But what you have here looks very good.

I like the composition and colors too.  You need to clean your sensor as there are very noticeable spots in the middle sky.

Hi Dave, I appreciate your comments. The contrails are a bit tough to edit on this one, so understand your point about cutting most of the sky. And I agree about brightening the hill. I tend not to spend much time in post-work but I realize that, one day, I need to revisit many of my images for tweaking. Regards, Jeff