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Evening Flight
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Evening Flight

by gary phillips

Gallery: LandscapePosted May 31, 2015309 views22 comments

Spent a stormy night in the Southern Nevada desert with some wonderful skies and ever changing light. This is perhaps my favorite from the trip and I'd like to get your thoughts on this one.

5d2, 24-105mm @ 24mm, iso 100, f/16, 1/40s

Comments and critiques greatly appreciated

Better large

Comments

22 comments
Comment posted by Patricia Brundage on May 31, 2015 at 5:11 PM

Good tonal range in your conversion to b&w.  Grand stone structure enhanced by a dramatic sky.  All the elements came together for you on this image.  Well done!

Registered on March 23, 2006, 1111 Posts, 6531 Comments
Comment posted by Ryan Shain on May 31, 2015 at 5:26 PM

Gary,

Your tones are diving in this B&W image, and this image has such a powerful presence about it. Your composition is sweet, and the the choice to put the rock sculpture on the right side to frame up the background mountain backdrop is perfect. Your layering creates such a beautiful depth, and I think this image is stunning!!!

 

devil

 

Registered on February 20, 2007, 226 Posts, 4571 Comments
Comment posted by Daniel Rappaport on May 31, 2015 at 5:50 PM

Wow what an impressive rock.  Your B&W handling of this works perfectly to add to its imposing, ominous character.

Registered on September 9, 2009, 294 Posts, 2006 Comments
Comment posted by Nick Bristol on May 31, 2015 at 5:54 PM

Gary, Been looking at the larger version and I just love it. Really a wonderful b&w image with beautiful processing. It has a dramatic mood which I love the feel of. Your composition is excellent adding to the drama even more. That sky looks awesome by the way! Cheers!!

Nick Bristol

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments
Comment posted by Harley Goldman on May 31, 2015 at 6:09 PM

Excellent, Gary!!!  I love this one. Getting very nit-picky, I might lose the bit of white cloud peeking out of the left side of the hoodoo, but pretty dang minor thought. You must be making sacrifices to the sky gods! Great stuff.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments
Comment posted by Keith Bauer on May 31, 2015 at 6:37 PM

Really like the overall image. B/W conversion is great!

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments
Comment posted by Danny Laureys on May 31, 2015 at 7:24 PM

Very nice indeed, excellent conversion.

Registered on January 5, 2008, 590 Posts, 1261 Comments
Comment posted by Igor Doncov on May 31, 2015 at 8:58 PM

What I really like about this image is the relationship between that rock and the clouds. The rock is like the clouds and the clouds are like the rock. You could easily eliminate most of the bottom of the image and still have a winning image consisting of the ridge, the distant mountains, the rock, and the clouds. The white rock on the right, however, prevents such a crop.

Marvelous image with great range and richness in tonality. One of your better recent ones IMO.

Registered on November 22, 2014, 189 Posts, 2733 Comments
Comment posted by Howard Cheek on May 31, 2015 at 9:45 PM

It's always a treat to view your work Gary, and this is no exception.

The rock form & structure steals the show, with the dramatic sky icing on the proverbial cake..

Can't add anything.. I will say this is one of your best IMHOdevildevil


 

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments
Comment posted by Alberto Patiño on May 31, 2015 at 11:16 PM

This is really outstanding, Gary, I don't have any suggestions, perfect as it is!

Registered on December 2, 2014, 278 Posts, 1736 Comments
Comment posted by Preston Birdwell on June 1, 2015 at 12:38 AM

This is just fabulous, Gary!

Aside from that bit of cloud Harley pointed out, this just rocks! Well done!

--P

Registered on November 1, 2003, 471 Posts, 5188 Comments
Comment posted by Roel Wijtmans on June 1, 2015 at 10:55 AM

Another beauty, Gary! The rock structure is of course great, as is the sky. I also like how the scale of the rock is pretty hard to guess, leaves a bit to the imagination. Lots of things to explore in this photo, great!

Registered on September 30, 2012, 116 Posts, 2257 Comments
Comment posted by Prashant Khapane on June 1, 2015 at 1:53 PM

agree. there is a lot of character here.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 492 Posts, 4580 Comments
Comment posted by Jean C Cajolet on June 1, 2015 at 9:17 PM

Ryan was speaking about the presence and it's really the strongest feeling that I got when I saw it the first time. Amazing B&W  with details, excellent management of the light, nice composition and very well balanced.

Registered on April 28, 2014, 53 Posts, 532 Comments
Comment posted by Navin Sarma on June 2, 2015 at 9:33 AM

Your processing and the drama in the clouds against the massive rock formation makes this a really powerful image. The effect is really great. nice work Gary

Registered on July 17, 2011, 233 Posts, 1373 Comments
Comment posted by Mark Seaver on June 2, 2015 at 10:26 AM

This is wonderful, Gary.  Your processing really lets both the shapes in the land and the shapes in the sky stand out.  That overhanging rock has a great presence but there's so much more both in the land and in the sky.  Easy to see why this would be a favorite.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments
Comment posted by Paul Breitkreuz on June 2, 2015 at 10:56 AM

laugh Amazing sight here, Gary. I've seen a lot of sandstone structures from that region, but cannot recall ever seeing this one. A great find, and B&W treatment is perfect.

Registered on February 25, 2006, 525 Posts, 8448 Comments
Comment posted by Craig Moreau on June 2, 2015 at 4:09 PM

Gary, this is an amazing photograph! Great processing on this to bring it to life. I love the dramatic tones, and the comp is fantastic. The only (very small) nit I have is that I'd like to see all of that large foreground rock on the right side. It distracts a little that the edge of it is cut off.

Registered on April 21, 2015, 64 Posts, 584 Comments
Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on June 4, 2015 at 9:15 AM

Beautiful shot - great lighting.  Processed very nicely.  Love the bright line of clouds and peaks in the mid ground.  What a cool place to spend the night!

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments
Comment posted by R.Bill Moser on June 4, 2015 at 4:37 PM

Another stunning black and white image from you. Love the dramatic sky. Great details and the processing looks spot on to me..

Registered on January 29, 2010, 285 Posts, 4281 Comments
Comment posted by Jared Warren on June 5, 2015 at 11:53 PM

Gary, I think you nailed this one. Great comp and sky drama, great processing, great tonal range and control of highlights. Looks like an Imperial Star Destroyer. ;) Masterful handling of the great conditions. 

Registered on May 11, 2012, 84 Posts, 931 Comments
Comment posted by Doug Koepsel on June 7, 2015 at 5:56 PM

Gary, this is a pretty neat looking rock against the stormy sky. The B&W serves it well. The only nits to me that make it unnatural are an apparent pale diffuse halo around only parts of the rock, and the sky above the far left cloud seems too black.

Registered on April 1, 2010, 196 Posts, 1592 Comments