A Walk Through the Enchanted Desert

[GB1]

Out in Saguaro National Park in Tucson AZ. Took this into the sun, sorta got away with it because of haze. I think it would be better with more definition in the walkway? C&C welcome.

Kodachrome 64

[swmdrayfan]

GB, all you need now is The Duke riding into the sunset. I like the feel of this.
John

[MB1]

My first thought was, "Too green".

Taking a closer look I dedided I like it a lot. I thing the dark details in the foreground are great but still think it is too green.

[gahspidy]

I like the foreground alot in this and would not change it.There is enough definition there and the haze that comes across is very effective. The one thing that bothers me with this is that you have the two Cactus in the shot where I think having just the one on the right would be best. the Catus on the left and the out of focus leaves coming into the frame hurt the overall composition for me.
The two Cactus plants in the scene feels too balanced, especially with the horizon in the center.

[Frog]

At first look, I thought the foreground too dark. Then I did a crude hand frame.
I now believe this photo is only harmed by the medium in which we see it and will be a very nice framed print.

[GB1]

Guys - Thanks for the initial critiques.

John, it does have an old west feel to it. As for the Duke, yeah... it definitely feels like he's been there. How about the attached collage? (got the image from Wikipedia)

MB1, you may be right about the green. I knew it had some dominant color there, wasn't quite sure what... maybe it is green? Feel free to play with the image and re-post if you'd like to.

Gary, I was wondering if someone might comment on the effect of the two cactuses. I noticed it also and initially felt the same as you, but then I decided that it creates a 'portal' of sorts, defining a walkway that's already partially there between the various flora. I did try a crop as you suggested - you like? It has potential I think but is too vacant / needs a subject on the left side.

Frog, good idea. I think I will play with this one some more and try a print. The only problem is that often when you print you end up losing details in shadow areas and such, and this one is borderline as is. I wonder if there's any way I can prep it so that doesn't happen?

GB

[gahspidy]

I can appreciate your visions about the portal concept. Actually, as I look more at this photo, the crop I think would work best for how i vision it would be to keep the cactus on the left since it is deeper into the picture. Also, I would not want to lose that foreground since it is for me the strongest aspect of the picture.
Here is more or less how I think it works for me.

[GB1]

Gary - your crop looks great, much better than the right side. I guess I will try a print of each and see what happens. I think I'll have to flatten out the contrast a bit on the image before printing cause for whatever reason it seems that a lot of detail is lost with the prints. Experiments...

GB