Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Riaan van Wyk on March 11, 2013, 01:43:49 pm
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Thoughts please?
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So far, this is the best in your "stumps on the beach" series.
Dynamic composition, and simplified foreground and background. My concern would be the too-central placement of the stump. Had you moved just a bit to the right, you would have a much more dynamic, diagonal composition, and would let us see more of that stump (or is is a driftwood?)
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Very nice. You can almost feel your feet being sucked down in the sand and the surf around your ankles. I agree, biased more to the left you could almost feel like you could walk around the stump, it would work better overall.
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I like it very much, Riaan, but I do agree with Slobodan. This is one picture where the rule of thirds would make a big difference.
What's fascinating to me about it it that it's almost an abstraction, but not quite.
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I am drawn by your steady determination Riann, to know this place, your increasing receptivity to its elements and your obvious determination to move to its inner ways...that you would share this journey and the subtle attitude of learner is what I appreciate most I think...seeing this encourages me to be more mindful of how rare that gift has come to be. Thank you.
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So far, this is the best in your "stumps on the beach" series.
Dynamic composition, and simplified foreground and background. My concern would be the too-central placement of the stump. Had you moved just a bit to the right, you would have a much more dynamic, diagonal composition, and would let us see more of that stump (or is is a driftwood?)
I agree entirely. There's a real sense of rushing water, derived from the well-judged exposure, but the composition is a little ordinary.
Jeremy
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Beautiful shot, Riaan; I wouldn't change a thing.
For me, the centrality is key: totally concentrates the mind on the thing as a whole; even the direction of the racing water contributes to the focus upon the key subject. One of the best images of this kind/genre that I've ever seen. Fabulous colour, too. Well shot, my man.
Rob C
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Great shot but I agree with the comments about the too-central placing of the stump. However, I would crop away the bottom half of the relatively boring area of the sand below the stump. That would place the roots of the stump in a more prominent position.
Another option would be to shoot with the camera lower and closer to focus attention on the roots, which I consider to be more interesting than the trunk. Although you would focus on the roots, when you take the photo, you would compose it so the roots were in the lower half of the frame and to the left so you include some, if not all, of the trunk.
Then, you might be concerned that the shot did not include enough of the wave action. Then, you would have to decide if your image was about the stump roots or about the waves.
My recommendations above are for where the stump is the subject. If you want a picture which focuses on the waves, I would not include such a dominant second subject, such as, this stump or, if I did, I would make it less dominant by only including the left of it (that is, moving it to the right edge of the frame).
Roger
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I like it. It is direct and effective. If you are going to shoot the wood in the water that is the best way to point your camera. If you move the wood off center I think the water and the sky would take over. It is a little uncomfortable for me to identify with the wood being swallowed by the beach or to be swallowing that much wood, but that's the way it is. I like your decision to stand so that your wake is not directed at the wood. Had it been I think it would have made you much more of a player in the scene.
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Very enjoyable to look at.
It is only when you have revisited the same area to work and re-work the same type of scene many times over, that you finally start to get a sense of what it is you are trying to capture and what the scene says to you.
I really like the shot, but agree that framing it differently, at perhaps a slightly more oblique angle may be what is needed, who knows, only you can make it work - but stick with it, because you are getting close, damn close.
Dave
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Beautiful shot, Riaan; I wouldn't change a thing.
For me, the centrality is key: totally concentrates the mind on the thing as a whole; even the direction of the racing water contributes to the focus upon the key subject. One of the best images of this kind/genre that I've ever seen. Fabulous colour, too. Well shot, my man.
Rob C
Hi Riaan
I'm inclined to go with Rob on this one...I'm not sure any other angle would give me that feeling of "vertigo".
William
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If you have taken other shots from different angles then you could possibly post another two just to satisfy the member's curiosity. A subject that deserves to be photographed from more than one angle. As it is I like it and wouldn't change anything. Nice processing. :)
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It's nice and IMO, if you crop the top to remove the "hot" hole, it may even be better!
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Thanks for the comments everyone, much appreciated.
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Does your beach offer-up jetsam in different shapes and colours?
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Nicely done. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Print it to a suitable size for your taste and place it where random people can view and comment. That way you will receive feedback from a much wider audience than forum regulars. I predict the general public will be overwhelmingly complementary, with good cause.
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Nice!
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Thanks again for the comments- appreciated.
Isaac, the seashore is a living entity, every high tide leaves new things for one to find in and on the sand. I haven't seen much jetsam recently, apart from the odd shoe or rope.
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Thanks again for the comments- appreciated.
Isaac, the seashore is a living entity, every high tide leaves new things for one to find in and on the sand. I haven't seen much jetsam recently, apart from the odd shoe or rope.
You gotta wonder about why folks always do that; why dump a single shoe?
Shit happens: I've seen both it and a shoe on the beach, but can't promise both at the same time.
;-)
Rob C
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So far, this is the best in your "stumps on the beach" series.
Dynamic composition, and simplified foreground and background. My concern would be the too-central placement of the stump. Had you moved just a bit to the right, you would have a much more dynamic, diagonal composition, and would let us see more of that stump (or is is a driftwood?)
Yes.
Nicely done!
Mike.
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Nothing to add, but WOW, you talk about an illustration of motion!
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Yes please Riaan, nice one, try a square crop around the stump Boet.
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I really love this picture. Like some others, I'm not sure if I like the stump in middle of such a tall narrow frame. For some reason I'm not keen on narrow verticals. I might be tempted either to crop off the top or the bottom. Nonetheless, that doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the picture.
Jim