Critiqued in Amateur Photographer

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

...Have you written it was intentionally?

If you meant did I make it clear in my submission to the magazine that what I did was intentional, then the answer is no. Otherwise, it was indeed intentional, first the use of flash during capture, then emphasizing it further in PS, for pretty much the same reasons you mentioned.

Furthermore, now that I reprocessed it to downplay the reed section, I can only say that I feel my initial decision seems even more right. The "downplayed" version is neither here, nor there, i.e., reeds are there, but murky, indeed standing in the way, distracting from the sky.

So, ultimately, I'll stick to my guns (i.e., the original version), hoping that one day "in a different kind of magazine this could also be a spread" (thank you for that).

[amolitor]

I think the final is, as has been mentioned, bold as hell. It's also a very consistent statement, and I don't think you can alter much without ruining it. That said, I don't much *like* it. I respect it, though.

The OOC one, though? That one I kinda like. It's completely different, all about muted pastels and soft light.

The composition feels, to my western eyes, vaguely related to an asian painting. It's probably just the reeds in the foreground which look like bamboo, and maybe something about the overall feeling of flatness in the perspective, or something. I feel like the muted tones and colors work better with that association for me than the popped neon look.

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi Slobodan,

I think that small size may not do your picture justice. A lot of small details don't work well in small sizes. I bet the image is much better at full screen. One of the reason I hate small pictures!

Best regards
Erik