System Repairs
by Blackbox

Comment by cloe15:
FUNNY

Simeli Mountain - Grimm Tale #142
by Blackbox

Comment by bassbone:
I got your PM, so here is a bit more on the photo.

I like the overall feel of the image, the dark and forboding sky, the layers of rock, the forsaken land. It works pretty well actually. I just think the image is a bit flat. This can potentially be corrected in two ways.

First, the best way is to find the best time of day to leverage the light and how it interacts with the landscape. For me, I think low angle light to show the subtle differences in the layers could really work. On a landscape like this, I almost wonder if being at this location at different times of day to see how the light interacts with the scene would be most beneficial. The best landscape photogs go back to scenes over and over again to learn how the light interacts with the subject. It is a cool location, it might be worth it here.

Second, post processing can bring out a bit more bite to the details. one of my favorite tools for local contrast is to use unsharp mask at large radius to increase local contrast. Setting such as 25%, 50 pixel radius, and 0 threshold will add some contrast without impacting the sharpness of the image. It works really well for me when I am trying to pull out textures in lines. I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of performing this action/filter on your image (see below). I think it does bring out the lines of the rocks a bit better and also shows up the vignette that was already in the image.


I hope this is helpful.

Mountain's Edge
by Blackbox

Comment by jblaylockrayner:
Nice image - Like the composition but the whites seem a little too burnt out and the whole image a little unsharp

TRAQ XIT
by Blackbox

Comment by ShutterHack:
DPChallenge user Blackbox has sent you the following private message:
Receive by Blackbox:

Hi Mike,

You made a comment to my 'TRAQ-XIT' photo in the last 'Free Study' challenge. You commented that my photo was 'oof'. I didn't check it as helpful because it's not out of focus. I does look that way but it's not: the photo was taken while I was in motion - it's motion blur. If you'd like me to check it as 'helpful', please consider changing it to something like: it looks out of focus to me. Then, I would gladly check the helpful box. I know, it's crazy but I can't help it. Thanks for your time and hope all is well...

Checking whether my comment was helpful or not does not matter to me. There is no portion of this shot that is sharp and if your trying for motion blur it needs to be a little more prevelant. Hence the OOF comment, Sorry!

Simeli Mountain - Grimm Tale #142
by Blackbox

Comment by Purple_Girl:
Since so much of the stone is the same colour, I'd have aimed up a bit and had some more sky in the shot, the different greys and blues would've balanced this up a bit more I think. As it stands, the focus is fine and I find that rock formation quite interesting.

Simeli Mountain - Grimm Tale #142
by Blackbox

Comment by bassbone:
this space has such possibilities - the textures of the mountains could really be dramatic - but the lighting gives it a very flat feel overall

System Repairs
by Blackbox

Comment by moxford:
Looks like more "fun" than "work." :)

System Repairs
by Blackbox

Comment by johnmcboston:
lighting is way too harsh...

Simeli Mountain - Grimm Tale #142
by Blackbox

Comment by fldave:
Nice capture - looks like very harsh environment.

System Repairs
by Blackbox

Comment by Danomite:
I've must say, I like this shot a lot. Not so much for its portrayal of "work" but, in general. Its very abstract in a certain sense, but at the same time I wouldn't be overly surprised to find something like this out in the middle of the desert while dirtbiking or ATVing.