Overwhelming

Gallery: LandscapePosted July 23, 2011217 views14 comments

I love a good telephoto landscape when the opportunity arises. On this occasion we were staying at a trout-fishing lodge on the South African Highveld, an area with undulating hills and large grassland plateaus.

Some cumulus clouds were building up for a storm in the late afternoon, and a lone tree on the ridge in front of our porch looked like a prime suspect for a photo. Now I know everyone does the 'lonely tree' shot, but I am allowed a take on the old familiar subject, right?

This is a 3-image panorama. I previously worked on a single-image version with a different feel, which I might post as a subsequent post here in the gallery. I did do a proper blog post about the difference between these 2 images and the power of panoramic presentation (you can read it on my blog, link at the bottom of this post). I used a circular polariser to get some more detail from the clouds.

The B&W conveys the scale, power and mood of the moment well for me...interested in your honest and thought-provoking critique.

Needless to say: view the larger image (yet even at 1024px it's not being done justice to).

Techs:
Canon 7D with 100-400mm L IS USM @ 105mm
f8.0 @ 1/1250 SS @ ISO-320
Kenko Pro Circular Polariser

Comments

14 comments

Comment posted by Anthony Vincent on July 23, 2011 at 8:44 AM

Impressive Morkel, what tremendous cloud structure from left to right. The tree, while small, is absolutely critical in the composition in terms of scale. Great work and conversion.

Registered on February 5, 2009, 199 Posts, 2775 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on July 23, 2011 at 9:22 AM

Very powerful image Morkel! The tiny tree really speaks volumes on the size of this ominous sky.

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by INGOMA on July 23, 2011 at 10:05 AM

Those clouds are stunning and the tree introduces an effective sense of scale. I so miss those African clouds, living nowadays in Canada. Nicely done!

Registered on July 2, 2004, 231 Posts, 3110 Comments

Comment posted by Andreas Resch on July 23, 2011 at 1:34 PM

Awesome clouds, great tonality and the tree for the scale is a wonderful addition. Overall excellent.

Registered on November 14, 2007, 322 Posts, 6101 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on July 23, 2011 at 1:57 PM

Neat! I like the progression of cloud tops from left to right, with the most dominant cloud on the far left balanced by the tiny tree at far right. This is one i really think needs to be printed huge to truly appreciate.

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Duval on July 23, 2011 at 3:16 PM

Morkel,

An image of great emotive power. It conveys, vastness, loneliness, insignificance, people will be moved by many elements of this image. In ways that are singular to their experience. Just one personal nit and it's truly personal, the cloud contrasts in the center of the image are just a tad heavy. This makes the cumulo appear to be rock hard, to me there has to be just a hint of softness while not losing the threatening pulse of convective energy in these boiling masses.

Paul

Registered on June 30, 2009, 508 Posts, 1907 Comments

Comment posted by R.Bill Moser on July 23, 2011 at 3:22 PM

Very impressive. This is excellent.

Registered on January 29, 2010, 285 Posts, 4281 Comments

Comment posted by Nicolaus Wegner on July 23, 2011 at 3:40 PM

Very good bw processing and that small tree makes the shot as it gives a real sense of scale...those clouds being massive.

Registered on February 21, 2010, 133 Posts, 1509 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on July 23, 2011 at 7:16 PM

A great depiction of the power of nature in this shot, and the conversion adds to the drama. Very well done!

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on July 24, 2011 at 2:00 AM

Powerful. Love it. Might think about cropping the left 1/4 or so. Think it feels a bit more concise. Dig the processing!

aF

Registered on October 26, 2009, 399 Posts, 2789 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on July 24, 2011 at 1:51 PM

This is wonderful. These clouds have such a powerful feeling. I really like that you included a bit of the land and that tree really makes this shot for me. B/W processing worked great here. Nice work Morkel.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on July 24, 2011 at 3:56 PM

Really grateful for the positive response guys. I have another version where I cropped some off the LHS...also works well.

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Beideman on July 24, 2011 at 11:53 PM

Morkel...I even tried to stretch this across my two monitors to attempt to see the scale of what this must look like.

It's pretty powerful. Fantastic cloud texture...and great use of the lonely tree to convey the scale. I personally like the LHS included as is...the shift in texture between the left and the more defined clouds in the middle adds to the sense of movement in this image from left to right.

Registered on April 7, 2011, 27 Posts, 74 Comments

Comment posted by Koveh Tavakkol on July 25, 2011 at 6:24 PM

The clouds look amazing in this shot! I bet this looks great in print!

Registered on September 1, 2009, 41 Posts, 608 Comments