Critique Rutted Track

[web52]

I found an interesting place to pull off of the road. Thought it was worth playing with several variations. I'd like to know what youse prefer AND WHY. One is pretty much too dark with the blue slider pulled down in the B&W filter layer, but the snow really pops in it.

D7200 with 17-55 f/2.8 lens at about 8:45AM (EXIF does not account for my time zone).

1. Color

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2. B&W with a bit of sepia tone

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3. B&W with, well, black and um white

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4. B&W with sky (blue) darkened.

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To get this picture, I anchored a stepladder in the back of my pickup with 5 ratchet straps. That gave me a better view of the road at mid-frame left.

An aside --- I hoped to have "meadows full of wildflowers" in the lower meadows.
Yeah. Sure.
When I DID find one such meadow, I looked at the yellow flowers.
DANDELIONS!
Made me wish for the old fashioned cameras so I could at least get satisfaction of burning that roll. (no, I have not yet clicked "delete" either.)

 

[pictureted]

I prefer the color and the last B&W. Re the conversions - the last does the best at differentiating the lower area of the mountains. The only thing I wish is a way for the trees on the near right to stand out a bit more. Your elevated vantage point was a good move and shows more of the winding road. Beautiful shots!

 

[Palouse]

I'm partial to the last B&W too.
Are you certain they were Dandelions, and not Balsamroot, Arnica, Mulesears Wyethia, or Alpine Sunflower, which all look like our friendly weed?

 

[web52]

Thank you, Nick and Ted.
I can change the near-right corner trees. I really wish I had more color among the ??sage?? bushes. Might just break down and paste in some.

Nick: I was really close to several dandelions, like almost standing on them. There were some other compositae (like daisies or black-eyed susans, but they were probably the Alpine Sunflower) -- but not in that particular field, and not in more than 1 per couple of square yards.

 

[billtils]

I like the last B&W best, then the first colour one; the different features aren't so well separated in the other two.

A suggestion though, the thread is titled "Rutted track" and the eye-catching element in all of them is the mountains, with none really featuring the track. How about doing a square crop, to remove the trees and the bottom right and make more of the nice 'S' that leads the eye from there through the image?

 

[web52]

Thank you for your suggestion. I'll try it.

 

[Palouse]

Reminds me of a Jesse Winchester song, made popular by Jerry Jeff Walker, "Mississippi on my mind",

"I think I see a wagon rutted road
With the weeds growing tall between the tracks
And along one side runs a rusty barbed wire fence
And beyond that sits an old tar paper shack."

 

[rick_reno]

Last b&w, the dark sky really highlights the snow in the mountains. I'm wondering what it would have looked like had you gotten a lower perspective on the road leading to the mountains.

 

[web52]

I'm wondering what it would have looked like had you gotten a lower perspective on the road leading to the mountains.

Thanks for the vote for a picture.
Lower perspective on the road -- some of the plants did cover up the curve and "lead-in" tail. The trail would stop around the puddle of water.

I had the feeling that road was a private road, and my truck and RV trailer pretty solidly blocked it. Didn't want to park it for a while and walk down the road.

 

[gary gruber]

If you need to present 4 different 'versions' of the original, then I suggest you concentrate on what you are trying to convey before pressing the shutter release. We used to call that pre-visualization. Try reading Ansel Adams' books "The Negative", and "The Print". He speaks about visualizing the final image before the photo is taken.

 

[Mike Buckley]

As a reminder to newcomers, this thread is over a year old.

 

[olshroom]

#3 is my pick

 

[gary gruber]

As a reminder to newcomers, this thread is over a year old.

and I am over 70 years old. My 94 year old neighbor across the street calls me a youngster.

photography is timeless. if you want your 'eye' to improve, there should be no time limit on helping people.