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Broken Heart

Gallery: Weekly ChallengePosted May 18, 2011398 views10 comments

I'm the moderator for this gallery, so I can't win the challenge, but I thought it'd be fun to submit an image anyway. Why not?

This is a shot from Death Valley National Park in California. It's nothing more than cracked mud and tiny salt crystals... but I've always liked it. I could have spent hours playing in the mud out there. Actually - I did!

Canon 180mm macro
1/20sec at f/11
tripod

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Balan Vinod on May 18, 2011 at 11:23 AM

Varina ..what an eye ....!!! while the comp is extraordinary ...am still thinking if pieces broke off to form the heart ..or did unwanted pieces break off ...to make a clean heart ..!

Well seen ..well done

Balan Vinod

Registered on March 20, 2006, 889 Posts, 2312 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on May 18, 2011 at 11:54 AM

Love the image, the symbolism, the clean lines and the subject matter. A very fresh, creative find.

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on May 18, 2011 at 6:55 PM

Who'd have thought of mud as beautiful?! This shows really nice vision. I would like to see a bit more texture in the whites.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Luis Argerich on May 19, 2011 at 4:22 PM

Hi Varina,
This is really a nice microcosm, I like the cracks, the dust the colors and the detail in this image.
It's amazing how detail can be brought in from really small parts of nature.

Registered on December 22, 2009, 91 Posts, 1349 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Pelzmann on May 19, 2011 at 8:24 PM

I love mudcracks. They offer such a compositional feast. The broken heart is a great find.

Registered on January 26, 2005, 27 Posts, 265 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on May 19, 2011 at 9:32 PM

Varina: Good leadership to post and show the way. Really well seen and superbly captured. It's a winner in my book.>=))>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Schwarz on May 20, 2011 at 11:39 AM

Great shot. I love the patterns and colors. Sometimes it pays to look down.

Registered on November 29, 2006, 236 Posts, 1210 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on May 20, 2011 at 9:33 PM

So you're a mud wrestler on the side Varina?

I think the title fits very well, love the how the white of the salt crystals have "painted" your broken heart..
The textures and details look great at this size, but would like to see this large so I get lost in the details

Well done!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Gary McGhee on May 23, 2011 at 11:43 AM

Great find Varina and a perfect title for this. Wonderfully framed with beautifully sharp details.

Gary.

Registered on April 15, 2010, 142 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on June 17, 2011 at 11:26 AM

Such an unusual shot, Varina! I like how the heart is two toned: the concentric white and brown areas draw our attention to the heart shape. It's interesting that the other two toned shapes don't do that. I think it's because of the size of the heart and its near central placement. The title of the shot helps too: we look for a heart shape. You could have reduced the exposure on the surrounding pieces. However, I think not doing that was a good decision. It makes the viewer work a little bit more and therefore captures the attention. Very creative. Playing in the mud sounds like fun too!

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments