Vulcano

[EduardV]

Hello everybody.

This is the first time I post a photo of mine to User Critiques in search of opinions. What do you thing, does this image work?
Thank you very much.


Eduard

[dchew]

I think it works very well. I might crop off some of the bottom and right side. Something like this...

[attachment=20632:volcano1.jpg]

Dave

[jule]

I actually disagree with Dave. I think that in this instance all the rulles can be broken by having the item of focus way off to the left and initially seeming unbalanced, because for me this image suggests the expansiveness of the Universe, and the insignificance of even an erupting volcano.

I think that having the volcano so far to the left throws my mind a little and makes me search for something else, and for me these are the stars, space and darkness which supports this infinite, expansive feeling.

I think it would look amazing printed huge, hung on a wall with nothing else in one's vision when viewed.

Thanks for this opportunity , Julie

[Saulius]

Eduard

Could you, pleas, inform about exposure of this shot? This is my personal interest (camera and the lens is also interesting).
Thanks
Saulius

[EduardV]

Thank you all for your replies. I somehow agree with dchew in cropping some of the bottom, for it is a little distracting. But I also agree with Julie in a way. My aim with this photo was to show both the magnificent sky, with Orion as the main subject there, and the moonlit vulcano with its fumes and the light of lava emerging at the top of it, as a contrast.

Eduard

Could you, pleas, inform about exposure of this shot? This is my personal interest (camera and the lens is also interesting).
Thanks
Saulius

Saulius, I shot it with an exposure of 15 seconds at f/4, ISO 400. Camera Canon 5d (old model) + 24-105 mm f/4 lens.

Eduard

[stamper]

One reason for cropping it is to make the volcano larger in the frame which is essentially the point of interest. The dark space on the right has no meaning imo as it is just that ... a dark space.

[RSL]

Eduard, Well, there you go. You've posted a very fine picture and, as usual, suffered an attack of the croppers. Dave's crop isn't bad, but I agree with Julie. Make a print, mat it and hang it, and live with it for a while. Then go back to the picture on your computer and look at the possible crops. I suspect you'll find that your initial, intuitive framing was best.

[fredjeang]

Eduard, Well, there you go. You've posted a very fine picture and, as usual, suffered an attack of the croppers. Dave's crop isn't bad, but I agree with Julie. Make a print, mat it and hang it, and live with it for a while. Then go back to the picture on your computer and look at the possible crops. I suspect you'll find that your initial, intuitive framing was best.

I agree with Russ.
I like the way Russ jumps on "the croppers"  it always makes me laugh but he is right.
Maybe the volcano is far away, and the first thought is: "what is the subject", if the subject is the volcano then it should be closer in order to give it the protagonism. That's fine, but in your picture, the vast dark landscape actually is also telling an interesting story and the volcano is still the center of attention.
To me, there is more dramatism in your picture while the crop is teorically more "correct" (from a school of photography) but artisticaly less "strong".
So I agree with Russ that if you print your image as it is, you might not want to touch it any more.

Cheers,

Fred.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

This is a fine picture. Composition is a bit unorthodox, but works well the way it is. I have nothing against the negative space, on the contrary. However, one thing for nitpicking: the sky is way too dark... I would like to see a separation between the foreground, which can be left as a totally black silhouette, and the sky with hopefully some dark blue still possible to extract.

[fredjeang]

This is a fine picture. Composition is a bit unorthodox, but works well the way it is. I have nothing against the negative space, on the contrary. However, one thing for nitpicking: the sky is way too dark... I would like to see a separation between the foreground, which can be left as a totally black silhouette, and the sky with hopefully some dark blue still possible to extract.

Well, Slobodan comment makes me wonder about the image display in the web. Actually, in the first image the sky is fine to me, strangely in the cropped version the sky is clearly darker in my browser. When I switch to Moz o Chrome, both images are lighter while in I.E sky gets darker and in safari it should also be darker    ...it is a real mess. Why there is not a standardisation onces for a while?!
In print I'm pretty sure it is ok. When I watch my pics in CS3, I've got the same in print, but NOT in browsers. Depending on the image, it can be very different.

Fred.

[EduardV]

Again thank you all for your suggestions and replies.

This is a fine picture. Composition is a bit unorthodox, but works well the way it is. I have nothing against the negative space, on the contrary. However, one thing for nitpicking: the sky is way too dark... I would like to see a separation between the foreground, which can be left as a totally black silhouette, and the sky with hopefully some dark blue still possible to extract.

At last I could print the picture and found out that you're absolutely right, Slobodan. The sky is really too dark, so I cleared it a bit and now it looks good. As to composition, I had few choices. The moon
was shinning bright, at camera left casting a nice ligth on the volcano. I took a first more orthodox -the volcano at the center- shot that included the moon, which turned out to be a white spot with
lots of flare in my LCD. So I changed the approach, for to me was crucial to include Orion in the picture and turned the camera to the right

Russ, I followed your suggestion and hung the picture on the wall and I look at it once in a while.  Still not sure about it, but probably won't crop it.

Cheers
Eduard

[jule]

Again thank you all for your suggestions and replies.



Russ, I followed your suggestion and hung the picture on the wall and I look at it once in a while.  Still not sure about it, but probably won't crop it.

Cheers
Eduard

Hey... I said that before he did... LOL...        I would love to see it printed...even with the dark sky i think it would be stunning, and quite unusual and interesting in the way you chose to position your subject.

Julie

[EduardV]

Hey... I said that before he did... LOL...        I would love to see it printed...even with the dark sky i think it would be stunning, and quite unusual and interesting in the way you chose to position your subject.

Julie

You're absolutely right, Julie. Sorry for the omission  

By the way, I visited your website. What amazing images you make!!! These are really good, I love them.

Eduard

[RSL]

Hey... I said that before he did... LOL...    

But you're a girl...