Views of a ruin

Cornflake

Criticism would be appreciated. Last week I made my second serious attempt to photograph this ruin. I scouted it one afternoon, despite having been there many times, and was back the next morning at first light. I like the photos well enough but I've just about concluded that photographing this place is beyond me. The only photogenic part of the ruin faces east, and it's a dawn place. Before the sun rises, photos of it look flat. When the sun rises, if you're close to it and shooting from the optimal point of view, your shadow fills the frame. You could back off and use a longer lens to deal with the shadow, but then you'd have to be levitating in mid-air over the small canyon that runs to the south of the ruin. These were the best compromises I found. It's a wonderful place to see in person.

anwmn1

Don- I like both of these images and feel your pain on shooting this location. If you take the time to see the shots they advertise with they are often from areas "off limits" to the rest of us.

I like the comp of the 1st one the best no sold on the soft tones. Per my usual critique I would play with darkening the sky a little bit and increasing your yellow tones in the bottom of the picture.

What does the 2nd one look like in black and white?

Cornflake

Aaron, thanks for the comments. I'll give some thought to your suggestions for the first one. In black and white, the second looks like this.

Stumblebum

Don, in my opinion, b&w does the trick! Psychologically the word "ruin" prepares my mind for wasteland, but this is a beautiful landscape with a ruin in it, so my mind had tough time accepting that twist on "ruins". Second, in the colored version, my eye was going past the ruins to the the mountain peak at distance and the grassland ahead, while skipping over the ruin, even though the light on it was beautiful. In b&w, ruin has my attention, and "too beautiful" landscape problem is also gone, but beautiful back drop is still there. Hope I made sense! Great subject and execution! Cheers!

Cornflake

"Second, in the colored version, my eye was going past the ruins to the the mountain peak at distance and the grassland ahead, while skipping over the ruin, even though the light on it was beautiful."

Excellent observation! I think you nailed it. Part of me preferred the black and white version, but I was attached to the peak in the background, and I didn't like what black and white did to it. But the peak isn't what the image is about. Thanks very much for the help.

Earache

A couple of real beauties Don!
I love the pastel tones and side-light of the early morning - #1 may have benefited from a bit of the direct lighting seen in #2.
I'm going to differ with the other guys and express a strong preference for the color version(s).
For me, the rich, reddish, color tones of the ruins make them stand-out and helps emphasize their uniqueness and importance as the subject.
I've seen many B&Ws of ruins that I like, but these comps nicely include plenty of surroundings and so, imo, benefit from color.
Visiting Anasazi sites was one of my favorite things to do when I lived in No. AZ

Cornflake

Thanks, Eric. These are unique and moving places. There's pretty good evidence that the modern Hopi are related to the people who lived in these spots. The Hopi are good folks who don't care for photography. I hope that if any of them ever see my photographs of these places, they'll understand the respect I felt when I looked at these ruins and photographed them.