Valles Caldera Morning

Gallery: Man & NaturePosted December 4, 2009204 views4 comments

I usually hang out over in the Avian forum. Thought I'd try my hand here with this image. This was taken at The Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico. I had the fortune to spend 3 days in this wonderful place and photograph the landscape as well as the wildlife back in September.

This image was originally a 3 image HDR. The colors were all very muted because of the fog so I decided to convert to a black and white. I enjoy the layers and texture this image provides.

I'm most interested in hearing the thoughts of the experts here.

Thanks in advance.

I've provided a bigger image for your viewing critique.

Canon 5D
100-400 @ 190mm
f/11

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by John Kerr on December 5, 2009 at 10:35 AM

I'm no expert Keith, but I like numerious things here. First I think it looks great B&W, I like the three levels to it, the white snow, the gray fog and the dark trees. Also I like the diagonal line of the fence and the FG trees. In my opinion it adds room to the FG allowing my eyes to wander to the barn and beyond.

Registered on October 28, 2009, 111 Posts, 1070 Comments

Comment posted by Basil Greber on December 6, 2009 at 3:12 PM

Excellent. Well done. I really like B&W fog pictures, and this is a particularly nice one.

I like the arrangement of trees leading into (or across) the frame.

Registered on November 8, 2005, 219 Posts, 1340 Comments

Comment posted by Buck Ward on December 6, 2009 at 4:06 PM

Hi Keith

It looks like snow on the ground and on the rooftop and maybe a little in the trees, so I thought that was blowing snow till you said fog and September. (September is summer for me, but maybe there would be snow in the high country.)

I love the way the fog adds a sense of depth to the trees in the mid-ground, and the way the forested ridge in the distance rises above it. I like the way you cropped the sky so we see just enough to define the ridge. Not having been there, I can't know, but I feel like a slight pan to the left might have been beneficial.

When I do a back and white photo, I usually have visualized it in black and white (which took me a long time to learn to do). Only occasionally do I find that converting a color photo to black and white is successful, but sometimes it is a real "Aha!" moment.

Registered on December 8, 2003, 96 Posts, 1917 Comments

Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on December 7, 2009 at 5:47 PM

Lovely image Keith. The layering is effective. Great job on the conversion.

Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments