This is one of the iconic locations in Joshua Tree National Park in California. I have seen many images from this location, but I figure they must all be from a few years ago because none of them contain the shrub in the lower left corner.
Most of the images I have seen of this Juniper tree and balanced rock were taken from a different angle that makes the tree appear much larger as if it towers over the rock. But in reality the rock is bigger than the tree.
I wanted something a little different than the composition I always see, so I made my image from below which allowed the tree to look smaller than the rock (as it is) and included the curve of the rock the tree is growing out of.
I like the different shapes in the image, the curve of the foreground rock, the opposing curve of the juniper tree, and the diamond shape of the balanced rock.
Please click the image to view a larger version.
In post-processing, I converted the image to black and white and added a vignette using Nik Silver Efex Pro.
Very nice. This is what I call Fine Art!
Anne,
Great image! Always nice to have a reminder to look at scenes in a new way – look for another angle and make your art.
Thanks!
Excellent composition, Anne. I like that shot, and the fact you chose B&W!
That is one terrific composition Anne. Great tones.
Great composition. I can’t wait to get back to the desert.
Hi Anne, great picture as usual! It is simple and iconic. One question I have is, and I don’t want to sound picky, but what about the small “white glow” around the tree, specially on the trunk, probably caused by the darkening of the sky while post-processing the image and trying to not affect the exposure on the tree? That sometimes happens with my images too and I keep debating if and how much should try to “fix” this. Is that something that bothers you? What are your thoughts? Regardless, this is a great image! Thanks.
Hi Fabio, great question! In fact, I tried to get rid of it, re-processed the image to reduce it as much as I could, but in the end I decided no one would notice it but me!! Wrong!! I do think only a photographer would notice it though so I try not to let things like that bother me too much. Sometimes you just have to take the “so what” approach! Thank you very much for your comments. I’m glad I’m not the only one who inspects their images like that.
Thanks for your reply Anne! I think we can all learn from each other here – especially from you (-:
This is one example of how sometimes we lose track of what is really important on an image. So many times I showed a picture to my wife, so proud of all the correct technical aspects of it, and then she just says “yeah, but her hair is messy”, or “she looks weird”, when referring to pictures of our kids. Again, thanks for your response.
You are welcome Fabio!
A very attractive composition. The rock and the tree are so well linked. There’s a tiny little curl at the top of the rock towards the tree. So small it’s easily missed.
What always amazes me about photos of this spot is how isolated it looks, but in reality there is a huge boulder like 5 feet away, and a campground just below!
For me that is part of the magic of photography….creating the illusion of something that might not be there, just by getting creative with the perspective.
You are so right! It looks like this rock and boulder are just there by themselves but really there are all sorts of other rocks, trees and shrubs nearby. Perspective makes a huge difference. Thanks for your comments Eric.
Stunning as usual Anne, even with the glow! Love your stuff!