Gauss Loc: Earth

Hello,

A rainy evening along US 36 near Beaver Meadows in Rocky Mountain NP. I like the contrast of the dreary, rainy mood against the bright sunlight trying to break through the high clouds. I used Nik Silver Efex to get a classic film look; my thought is the film grain displays good tonal and edge detail in the clouds while enhancing their heavy, rainy appearance.

Thanks for looking and commenting.

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Brokenland

This image has no desirably factory or a set focal point. Merely a tourist shot that follows the foreground right off the right side edge of the picture..

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Where is the vertical reference? Use the straighten tool and pick perhaps weeds in the middle. Then correct the keystoning with the perspective tool. Often it is helpful to do both with the canvas enlarged.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_effect

Crop tool ... pull in the right side to the intersection of the two hills.. small but important. Then the Left side pulled in to include only the one small hill and trim some of the grass away. Finally, bring the sky down to just above the cloud above the large hill. Perhaps then we have a " set focal point."

I would selectively lighten the trees a tad.

peekaboo

To Dpullum, why would you use the straighting tool. From what I see,, the clouds are straight and the road is rising right to left.

Gauss Loc: Earth

Reprocessed the image to improve depth in the receding mountains. Also lightened the large trees on the right side a bit and reduced the heaviness of the grain introduced during the b&w conversion.

Thanks for the comments.

The image is correctly level; the trunks of large trees on the right side are indeed upright. The lens used was a 50mm and produces very little distortion. In LR, there was no difference that I could see when the lens correction was turned on and off. There is no keystone effect in play; I was just photographing the scene while on a slope.

My updates don't make any attempt to address the issue of whether or not the image is "Merely a tourist shot that follows the foreground right off the right side edge of the picture.." While I understand the idea of a focal point, I also understand the idea the rule of thirds and other concepts, all of which can be successfully applied or successfully ignored. An especially good focal point can certainly boost a photograph to the next level or make it more memorable. But one isn't required to make a photograph that is more than a just tourist shot.

(Download)