Some Alpine Creeks

[JeffKohn]

These shots are somewhat atypical for me, since I usually tend to shoot larger-scale scenics. It's not that I don't like "small" landscapes, I just have a more difficult time shooting them. I think the closer you get to a subject, the more important minor details become.

Anyways, here are three images for C&C, I'm curious what you folks will think. Click any image for PBase page with EXIF/lens info.


Creek, Virginia Lakes Basin



Creek Near TJ Lake, Mammoth Lakes Basin

[button]

Jeff, I'm getting lost in the details, and I'm having a hard time discerning a theme.  Would color versions help?

John

[markhout]

Jeff, I'm getting lost in the details

Same here. My eyes wander. Tonality is great though. Would a selective dodge/burn session for both images help?

[cmi]

I imagine #2 should look very cool in big, just because of these small details... an example where screen res is just not sufficient...

[Lisa Nikodym]

I echo what John & Mark said about the B&W versions not working well - my eye just gets lost in them.  I get the feeling that these could be very nice in color, though...

Lisa

[jasonrandolph]

Great tones in both, but my eyes too wander.  I think including a little more of the creek in the bottom left of #1 would help solidify the composition.  I bet there's some great detail in each image when seen as a large print.  They're not bad, but my eye doesn't stop looking around.

[JeffKohn]

Thanks for the feedback. I kind of expected that on the first one in particular; I wanted to bring out the tones in the plants, but the creek itself kind of gets lost instead of creating a visual path through the image.

I didn't think the second one was so busy, with the reflection and the line created by the bank. I thought I might get some comments that it's too dark though. I wanted the greens dark, so that the flowers stood out; that and the soft light on the trunks was what drew me to this scene.

I didn't think either of these images worked in color, and don't have color versions online. I'll see if I can get color versions of one or both up over the weekend.

[jule]

Jeff, I think there is just so much interesting tone and texture that it is a bit overwhelming, so I took the liberty of having a play and isolating some of the interest into a smaller image. The crop I have included here is just to illustrate that perhaps when there is so much variation and texture in an image, it may be better to reduce it so that it can be explored gently with the eye, rather than feeling that one's eye is flitting everywhere trying to take it all in at once.

Making the daisies a little lighter would help a bit too I think. The original colour file should give you a good colour separation to do this on.

[attachment=16526:11713044...asincrop.jpg]


Julie

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I like the second one as is. Color wouldn't help, IMHO. I love the tonalities and it does not seem at all too busy. I expect a large print would be quite nice.

I have a harder time with the first one. I think Julie is on the right track, but it still doesn't quite work for me.

Eric

[wolfnowl]

Well... I like them, as is!  There is a lot going on in both images, but it just means I have to take a little longer in looking at them.

Mike.

[RSL]

I agree with Mike. If these were properly printed, framed, and hung, they'd be worth standing in front of for a while.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Mike and Russ make good points. Much of today's photography seems to be aimed at giving an instant "wow" impression, but doesn't hold up to slower viewing. I much prefer images that puzzle me, that make me think, and that reveal something new each time I see them, even after many repeat visits. These both have enough to hold my interest for more than a few seconds (but I still get more out of the second).

[button]

I've looked at these shots some more, and I think what Russ said is dead on.  These little jpegs just don't do these images justice, and I have no doubt that the full sized images really would make one stop and analyze.  I think that I got a little antsy because I couldn't make out the specifics of the details.

Also, I forgot to mention in my first post that I really like your use of contrast here.  Furthermore, I just noticed what I assume is an underwater log in #2, which makes that shot for me now- that diagonal is balanced by a line of brush in the upper 1/4, just left of center.

John

Edit reason: adverb duplication

[JeffKohn]

Thanks again to everybody for all the feedback, it's been very helpful. I had kind of a busy weekend and didn't really have time to followup with some replies here, but I did take a look at the comments over the weekend. I've been thinking about these two images not only in light of the feedback but also just looking at them further.

At this point I don't think the first image succeeds, at least not in conveying what originally drew me to the scene. It was the soft light on the corn silk and wildflowers that I really liked. I'm happy with the tones in the B/W conversion, but I think the composition is just too dense; maybe it there were fewer rocks and more water in the creek it might have worked. I also think Julie is onto something with the isolation approach.

The last image also has quite a bit going on; but for me I think there's enough structure from the reflection and the lines of the trunks and creek bank that I'm OK with that. It's the tonality of this image that I'm drawn to, and I'm definitely going to search out these types of scenes and lighting conditions in the future.

[RSL]

At this point I don't think the first image succeeds, at least not in conveying what originally drew me to the scene. It was the soft light on the corn silk and wildflowers that I really liked. I'm happy with the tones in the B/W conversion, but I think the composition is just too dense; maybe it there were fewer rocks and more water in the creek it might have worked.

Jeff, Go to a museum and sit in front of one of Claude Monet's later works for a while. Then decide whether or not your composition is too dense. It's really hard to judge something like this from a display on a computer monitor, but I don't agree that it's too dense.

[Jeremy Roussak]

I'm arriving at the party a little late, but FWIW I really like the second one. I suspect that people's comments about the first - that it would look good printed large and contemplated for a while - are probably correct.

Jeremy