Bombay Beach

[GB1]

at the Salton Sea. C&Cs are welcome. This one's an HDR.

Gb

[LeeIs]

I like the idea here. I really like the top half of the photo. Nice colours. The sandish/rocky right bottom kind of over powers the great mood set by the rest of the photo.

[Frog]

Sorry, GB...it just seems rather flat to me.
I like how you got the line of pilings leading viewers eye into the background but the bg is just not interesting enough.

[geraldb]

I agree with Frog. I felt it needed a kick in color, contrast, and shadow detail. I was also bothered by the lower left corner rock. I know my version is far from perfect, I applied PP over your PP which is harder than starting with a fresh image.
I didn't resize the image, it uploads smaller than the original, mmmmmmmm.

[GB1]

Thanks everyone. Seems like my Salton Sea images gather a lot of attention.

Liban, agree that the fg doesn't match up to the bg. That sandy rock does look ugly. But the junk in the water hurts more, I think. It's a nasty place and that often adds to the feeling, but in some situations, it subtracts. I think this is one of the situations, and think it would be a better overall photograph if the foreground weren't so nasty (!)

Frog, agree that it's flatter than most HDRs. Just came out that way

geraldb, thanks for your edit. I do like your version, but feel that it's not necessarily better, just different. The color may be too much but this is really personal preference. I see you're relatively new to the site, so hope to see more of your posts.

GB

[Grandpaw]

I also agree about it being flat. I also think that the white balance seems off to me, Jeff

[GB1]

Jeff, white balance? The colors are surreal due to both the atmosphere and the HDR, so I think the WB wouldn't still be too relevant (but I could be wrong).

[armando_m]

A few comments
rock on the left bottom I think can be removed
right edge is to close to the shore
I would try to add more contrast, at least on the foreground rocks

[GB1]

Thanks Armando. I agree that the lower left rock can and should be cloned out. I may also be able to clip a little off the shoreline on the right.

The problem w/ upping the contrast is that unless some tricks are performed that it will reduce detail in the rocks and shore even more than it already is. Not sure this one is a keeper, justifying the effort. Will have think on it a bit..

[readingr]

GB, I have spent a while looking at this and I think the issue is that the bottom right is too dark and the area which extends to the first two piles need a bit more detail to make this photo. I agree about cloning out the rock but keep the rubbish in the water. Could be a difficult clone.

Roger R.

[GB1]

Thanks Roger. I will revisit this one. To me it has virtues but not exactly sure what the attraction is and, whatever they are, whether they overcome the nastiness. Arggg.

Also, welcome back! Haven't seen you up on the Critique board in awhile.

[readingr]

Been really busy at work - haven't picked up the camera all year :-( Just starting up again.

Roger R.