Some buddies and I visited Death Valley for the first time in March 2008. This photograph was made at sunset at Badwater. Canon 30D, Tamron 18-200 XR Di II. C&C always appreciated.

The clouds are interesting, but I'd also consider cropping it right at the horizon line. Makes it look like the salt pan goes on forever...

Mike.

I like the salt and I like the sky, what I don't like is the ballance of the shot. As the previous poster indicated, cropping to the horizon may have been better but for me I think more sky would have given better ballance. I don't know that the 'rule of thirds' is exactly the ratio I'd look for here but it woudl likely have been more ballance if composed with about 1/3 sky. If the sky was uninteresting then cropping to the horizon would make sense but since the sky has some nice drama to it I'd opt for more of it...


Brian

Nat,
I feel like the ratio between the sky and the rest is not right. When I'm looking at your photo, I almost never see the sky, my eyes stay "glued" to the salty surface. The sky is interesting with clouds and nice colors, but it doesn't exist for me.

I spent maybe 10-15 minutes watching your image and I agree with wolfnowl and raptorsys, I would either eliminate the sky or make it more present (hard to do without reshooting the scene).

But don't get me wrong, I like your photo a lot.

I'm going to be a contrarian regarding the sky/salt issue. I've shot this location several times and the salt formations themselves are really the subject here. While with the right clouds you might be able to locate the division between the salt plain and the sky in various places, a composition something like this often works pretty well.

One of the hardest things about shooting this subject is that the supposedly white salt is generally illuminated mostly by the very blue sky - and the salt ends up being very, very blue. You have handled this in an interesting way. You really haven't suppressed the blue all that much but you have increased - or so it seems - the contrast between the dark areas and the raised ridges of salt. I think that works OK.

Regarding the "goes on forever" concept... I can understand that interest, but the other perspective, and one that makes sense to me having been there, is more of a "goes on for vast distances to the far mountains" is perhaps better shown by including the distant features. Removing them would turn this into something pretty unremarkable, unless you are a geologist... :-)

Take care,

Dan

(I've posted one of mine here.)

I would whack the top of the image to just under the bright cloud in the upper left. You could also crop to just below the bank of clouds. Seems to allow the salt patterns to pull you to the hills. I wouldn't crop any more because it is kind of nice to have a destination. Otherwise you're looking at the point of view of a dead man.

I'd crop all the talk about cropping and call it a great shot. I think it's fantastic just the way it is.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions; that's why I posted this one... .I have others with more sky, horizontal orientation etc. but wanted opinions on this one. Everyone's comments were well-thought-out and I very much appreciate it!

Perfect as it is.

I like non-conformist shots myself, and yes, the salt does go on for nearly forever. It's a crazy alien place. If you're standing out in the middle of it all, it's large enough to make you feel like you are the only person there.

Lovely blue hue as well.