Taken up the hill from my place. There were a lot of wild flowers blooming and it looked beautiful.
When I uploaded the photos, the light was really harsh on all of them. That's something to contend with in the AZ sun. So I fiddled with color and levels and balance and filters, but just couldn't get it right.
Finally I decided to desaturate and used a silver tone action on it.
There's a nice starkness in the B&W that complements the starkness of the cacti quite well. The rest of the vegetation, particularly near the top of the hill, seems to be sort of plasticized/blurred/smoothed. Not sure what in your processing may have caused that.
if I was you..I would reshoot this when you have a storm moving in! Don't give up because the lighting is bad..go retake it. Challenge yourself. I really like this shot but needs more work.
Well, I like it. It's got that 'no atmosphere' sharpness and lighting of a Mars or Lunar photo. I like the perspective created by the composition of the 3 cacti. The greys look a bit 'saturated' (?) in the background (not sure how to explain it).
Every time I drive through Arizona, I swear I'm going to get a saguaro cactus photo. There are tons of them around Gila Bend...ah, but still no photo. I like the silver tone you've added. You can really see the detail in the cactus. I, too, like the centered composition con los tres amigos staggered in the scene. Very pretty!
Why aren't you happy with it? I like it. I really love the centered composition in this one. It fits with the terraine and the overall look of the photo perfectly. I'm really not a big fan of the desert -- but you have made it quite appealing.
This is really fascinating; it's like the amigos (especially center) are almost 3D. Breaking the rule of thirds works and the 3 verticals are offset nicely by the curve in the hill. I'm not sure if it's a contrast thing or sharpening, but white "specs", especially on hill, stand out quite a bit. Good choice for the action.
Add photograph to your favorites
Add photographer to your favorites
Photographer found comment helpful.
