Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Landscape & Nature Photography => Topic started by: sailronin on August 24, 2012, 07:20:43 pm

Title: View from hotel parking lot, Bluff, UT.
Post by: sailronin on August 24, 2012, 07:20:43 pm
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8424/7853804682_d8823edc56_b.jpg)

M9 w/35mm Summicron
Title: Re: View from hotel parking lot, Bluff, UT.
Post by: luxborealis on August 25, 2012, 08:05:22 am
I must be missing something.

I stare and stare and stare (yes, I see the line of green shrubs leading from the foreground to the bright bush, the remarkable background (unremarkably lit), the white horse and the unremarkable building), but I go away not having gained anything from the experience except the nagging question: Am I missing something truly artistic or (I don't mean to be harsh) is it just a snap of a view with no redeeming qualities (a.k.a. "a sharp photo of a fuzzy concept")?
Title: Re: View from hotel parking lot, Bluff, UT.
Post by: sailronin on August 25, 2012, 09:17:31 am
I think you have hit the nail on the head..."sharp photo of fuzzy concept".  I was enjoying the "burning bush" and overlooked how drab the bluff is in this light.
Thank you for the comment.
Dave
Title: Re: View from hotel parking lot, Bluff, UT.
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on August 25, 2012, 11:15:02 am
The shot is simply not processed well (or not processed at all). Give it to, say, Peter Eastway and see how "unremarkable" it really is.

A few steps to the left at the time of capture would have reduced the empty space in the middle ground and helped achieve a more dynamic diagonal transition from foreground to background (perhaps try content-aware scaling instead?).
Title: Re: View from hotel parking lot, Bluff, UT.
Post by: Isaac on August 25, 2012, 11:39:23 am
Am I missing something truly artistic...

... a dearth of truly artistic photographs ... simply beautiful and artistic - rich in detail, tones and colours.

afaict "truly artistic" doesn't mean more than I like.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/american-english/artistic?q=artistic
Title: Re: View from hotel parking lot, Bluff, UT.
Post by: petermfiore on August 25, 2012, 01:40:16 pm
Just a few quick adjustments. I took the liberty to modify your image, I find it much easier to demo than to write a suggestion. It's a starting point.



Peter
Title: Re: View from hotel parking lot, Bluff, UT.
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on August 25, 2012, 02:34:31 pm
I prefer Peter's modifications, but I would also get rid of the ugly building.
Title: Re: View from hotel parking lot, Bluff, UT.
Post by: PeterAit on August 25, 2012, 03:02:56 pm
Just a few quick adjustments. I took the liberty to modify your image, I find it much easier to demo than to write a suggestion. It's a starting point.

Peter

Aaack, this is horrid! No offense, but your modifications, have "Photoshop" written all over them and have turned a gentle and pleasing (if unremarkable) image into almost a parody of the over-processing of photos that is so common today. Please, no!
Title: Re: View from hotel parking lot, Bluff, UT.
Post by: petermfiore on August 26, 2012, 07:18:32 am
Aaack, this is horrid! No offense, but your modifications, have "Photoshop" written all over them and have turned a gentle and pleasing (if unremarkable) image into almost a parody of the over-processing of photos that is so common today. Please, no!


Of course Aaack. That was the point! There is much that lives in every capture. Just an example, nothing more.


Peter
Title: Re: View from hotel parking lot, Bluff, UT.
Post by: luxborealis on August 26, 2012, 09:01:27 am
Just a few quick adjustments. I took the liberty to modify your image, I find it much easier to demo than to write a suggestion. It's a starting point.
Peter

I must admit to preferring the hues of the original photograph - these are too green and too vibrant. There is definitely something in the original scene worth photographing - perhaps the horse and the background more than the bright bush and greenery. Sometimes it's more about what we, as photographers, leave out, then what we leave in.
Title: Re: View from hotel parking lot, Bluff, UT.
Post by: Isaac on August 26, 2012, 01:22:27 pm
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/artistic_1?q=artistic (http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/artistic_1?q=artistic)

The "relating to art" and "skillfully and attractively made" don't take us further than I like.
Title: Re: View from hotel parking lot, Bluff, UT.
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on August 26, 2012, 02:06:10 pm
The only proper definition of "artistic" is, of course, anything that I personally like.  ::)