Pollen Season

[Todd Suttles]

Dawn + 40 minutes. Air dead still, shore side (lake). C&C appreciated. With or without distant shore? I prefer without. Thanks in advance. -t

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I prefer the one without the distant shore, but I would be tempted to do a tiny bit of vignetting so the corners (especially top, and bottom right) don't appear quite so washed out. But NOT so much that anyone will notice that a vignette has been applied.

[michael ellis]

The shore doesn't add anything for me. Maybe if it was a larger element, but I like the one without a lot.

Michael

[Todd Suttles]

I prefer the one without the distant shore, but I would be tempted to do a tiny bit of vignetting so the corners (especially top, and bottom right) don't appear quite so washed out. But NOT so much that anyone will notice that a vignette has been applied.

Good suggestion, thanks. I like it better -t

[Steve Weldon]

Dawn + 40 minutes. Air dead still, shore side (lake). C&C appreciated. With or without distant shore? I prefer without. Thanks in advance. -t

Todd -  I hope you don't feel like I'm beating up on you.. even if it seems that way.  To be honest I see promise in this and the other of yours and hopefully my comments might lead to promise realized.  Let's get on with it.

When I look at this I can't tell right away if it's just a few rocks, or if you're standing up on a cliff looking down, hanging upside down from a hang glider.. I just don't know.  I want to know.  We all want to know.  This is why an anchor point and/or a point of scale is so important.  It could be anything we know the size of, a picnic basket, a bird, something that doesn't come in many different sizes.  Like rocks.  Anchor points can also add interest through their scale, texture, shape, or their difference from the rest of the scene.  These are the primary failures that keep me from enjoying this photo.

Next, there is an awful lot of grain in some parts.. maybe  this is accumulated pollen and hence the title?  Otherwise I can't relate the title to context and that's important as well.  It's important to keep in mind that while you know exactly what this is in the smallest detail, your viewers won't know unless you put the image in context through anchor points, scale, objects.

The colors seem off too.  Did you artificially boost the exposure?  You probably know there's something called the "magic hour", but this happens after dusk and not before dawn.. but dawn will still have it's own colors the eye can't see but the camera can.. and learning how to let your camera have it's head and lead the color is very important.  I think it's great you managed to get there so early, that's 90% of the work.  Most won't bother. I know, I've tried to get workshop students out of bed before dawn for a long time and it's rare they want to get started before 9am.. But once there, it's different from a normal exposure so you might want to read up on that a bit.

I like your work.  It's like a hair out of sync is all.  Keep at it sir.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Todd,

Steve Weldon usually makes excellent critiques, but in this case I have to disagree with him. I suspect he just hasn't seen this kind of pollen spread near the edges of a lake. It's a very familiar scene to me, and I have a pretty good sense of how big the rocks are since the photo was likely take from about eye height standing on the shore of a lake. So for me, at least, it doesn't need the additional anchors and clues that Steve mentions. And if you waited to photograph it at the "magic hour," it would be a photo about the light and not the pollen.

I find it a pleasing semi-abstract, especially in the new version.

[Todd Suttles]

Todd -  I hope you don't feel like I'm beating up on you.. even if it seems that way. 

Steve, don't worry about it. I am grateful for you and everyone else here who has cared enough to comment. I am learning so much from everyone. I love reading all the comments about everyone's images posted here too. I haven't missed one since I found LL. I love it here. -t

[Steve Weldon]

Todd,

Steve Weldon usually makes excellent critiques, but in this case I have to disagree with him. I suspect he just hasn't seen this kind of pollen spread near the edges of a lake. It's a very familiar scene to me, and I have a pretty good sense of how big the rocks are since the photo was likely take from about eye height standing on the shore of a lake. So for me, at least, it doesn't need the additional anchors and clues that Steve mentions. And if you waited to photograph it at the "magic hour," it would be a photo about the light and not the pollen.

I find it a pleasing semi-abstract, especially in the new version.

Hi Ed -

I think you're right, if like you I'd seen this before I would have recognized it and it would be fine as is.  But what about all those of us who haven't?   And I mentioned magic hour being at night because he was shooting in the morning and the colors still seem strange to me so wasn't sure why he was there  so early.. but maybe that was a bad reference.

[Steve Weldon]

Steve, don't worry about it. I am grateful for you and everyone else here who has cared enough to comment. I am learning so much from everyone. I love reading all the comments about everyone's images posted here too. I haven't missed one since I found LL. I love it here. -t

That's a great attitude.  No one critiquing your work actually expects you to do everything they mention, at best we'd like you to think about it and next time around maybe it will help..

[Todd Suttles]

Todd,

Steve Weldon usually makes excellent critiques, but in this case I have to disagree with him. I suspect he just hasn't seen this kind of pollen spread near the edges of a lake. It's a very familiar scene to me, and I have a pretty good sense of how big the rocks are since the photo was likely take from about eye height standing on the shore of a lake. So for me, at least, it doesn't need the additional anchors and clues that Steve mentions. And if you waited to photograph it at the "magic hour," it would be a photo about the light and not the pollen.

I find it a pleasing semi-abstract, especially in the new version.

Thanks Eric, all of your assumptions are correct about content and placement. I am going to post the non cropped image to see if it adds or detracts for those who are not familiar with the setting. Thanks. Appreciate! -t

[Steve Weldon]

Thanks Eric, all of your assumptions are correct about content and placement. I am going to post the non cropped image to see if it adds or detracts for those who are not familiar with the setting. Thanks. Appreciate! -t

BTW - I still don't know what the heck I'm seeing.  Would you mind explaining with words what's in this picture?

This reminds me of my work at Crater Lake in Oregon.  There were some very intense discussions (not here) accusing me of pumping up the saturation to give an artificial look to the image.. but anyone who had been there du ring different times of the year knew when the algae was in a certain state and the sun a certain angle you could hardly believe your eyes.  Having lived a short 50-60 minute drive from the lake I was able to make it a project and drive there most every week or two for several years.. the changes could be dramatic.  But those who had never seen it, or just happened to have seen it at the wrong time, were quite.. well.. set in their opinions.

[Todd Suttles]

Todd -  I hope you don't feel like I'm beating up on you.. even if it seems that way.  To be honest I see promise in this and the other of yours and hopefully my comments might lead to promise realized.  Let's get on with it.

When I look at this I can't tell right away if it's just a few rocks, or if you're standing up on a cliff looking down, hanging upside down from a hang glider.. I just don't know.  I want to know.  We all want to know.  This is why an anchor point and/or a point of scale is so important.  It could be anything we know the size of, a picnic basket, a bird, something that doesn't come in many different sizes.  Like rocks.  Anchor points can also add interest through their scale, texture, shape, or their difference from the rest of the scene.  These are the primary failures that keep me from enjoying this photo.

Next, there is an awful lot of grain in some parts.. maybe  this is accumulated pollen and hence the title?  Otherwise I can't relate the title to context and that's important as well.  It's important to keep in mind that while you know exactly what this is in the smallest detail, your viewers won't know unless you put the image in context through anchor points, scale, objects.

The colors seem off too.  Did you artificially boost the exposure?  You probably know there's something called the "magic hour", but this happens after dusk and not before dawn.. but dawn will still have it's own colors the eye can't see but the camera can.. and learning how to let your camera have it's head and lead the color is very important.  I think it's great you managed to get there so early, that's 90% of the work.  Most won't bother. I know, I've tried to get workshop students out of bed before dawn for a long time and it's rare they want to get started before 9am.. But once there, it's different from a normal exposure so you might want to read up on that a bit.

I like your work.  It's like a hair out of sync is all.  Keep at it sir.

Hi Steve- I thought I would post the zeroed raw that I cropped down to what I posted above. It adds a little more of an anchor point I think, but perhaps not enough? That way you can see what I started with AND what I did to it in PP. Some critique on that from anyone willing would be appreciated too.

I did another composition (file#6) at the location which I am also posting here. I think it adds a lot more anchor to give context and perspective?
Thanks in advance for your input.. -t

[Steve Weldon]

Hi Steve- I thought I would post the zeroed raw that I cropped down to what I posted above. It adds a little more of an anchor point I think, but perhaps not enough? That way you can see what I started with AND what I did to it in PP. Some critique on that from anyone willing would be appreciated too.

I did another composition (file#6) at the location which I am also posting here. I think it adds a lot more anchor to give context and perspective?
Thanks in advance for your input.. -t

File #6 with the distance shoreline I can identify as a shoreline finally gives me the perspective I need to feel the size of the rocks and twigs in the water.. or are those big boulders and tree trunks?  Regardless, the distant shoreline at least enables me to imagine a perspective.   

But here's what's bothering me.  The pollen, is it the grainy white stuff pooling up?  If so then those must be rocks and twigs.   And those reflections of the clouds really come back deep towards the front of the image.. I can see that now.k

The colors and exposure still seems a bit much to me though, maybe something between the two..

Tell me about the pollen.  It might not be necessary to enjoy the image but my curiosity is peaked!

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Tell me about the pollen.  It might not be necessary to enjoy the image but my curiosity is peaked!

I agree with Steve, one needs a bit more reference to even know what to look for.
I also had no clue what I was looking at, an aerial view?, a close-up?, yet I'm familiar with pollen:

Spruce pollen

Cheers,
Bart

[Todd Suttles]

Tell me about the pollen.  It might not be necessary to enjoy the image but my curiosity is peaked!

Steve-
Pine pollen season in Georgia, USA:  on a good day the pollen count is 9000. I believe out of season it is under 100, close to zero. There is so much pollen, mostly yellow pine, that for a couple days to about a week, once a year, depending on rain of course, EVERYTHING, inside and out is covered with a fine yellow dust. Only visible because of the sheer volume. In this photo, the pollen on the lake surface has drifted to the shoreline forming a thick film floating on the surface. The build up along the edges of the rocks are thicker as the water rises and falls (in this photo about 3/4 inch); repeated deposits. The film (like scum) consists of thousands of thousands of grains of pollen you would not be able to see individually. I imagine if you looked at it under magnification it would appear as a foam. It is much prettier NOT knowing what it is 

[Steve Weldon]

Steve-
Pine pollen season in Georgia, USA:  on a good day the pollen count is 9000. I believe out of season it is under 100, close to zero. There is so much pollen, mostly yellow pine, that for a couple days to about a week, once a year, depending on rain of course, EVERYTHING, inside and out is covered with a fine yellow dust. Only visible because of the sheer volume. In this photo, the pollen on the lake surface has drifted to the shoreline forming a thick film floating on the surface. The build up along the edges of the rocks are thicker as the water rises and falls (in this photo about 3/4 inch); repeated deposits. The film (like scum) consists of thousands of thousands of grains of pollen you would not be able to see individually. I imagine if you looked at it under magnification it would appear as a foam. It is much prettier NOT knowing what it is 

Thank you.   Ya know, I lived in rural (almost a backwoods hermit) for many years and virtually lived outside in the forest.  I don't remember anything like this.   Now I'm wondering if Oregon trees.. for lack of a better word.. get it on differently than Georgia trees.  I know this to be true of the human female species..

[Steve Weldon]

I agree with Steve, one needs a bit more reference to even know what to look for.
I also had no clue what I was looking at, an aerial view?, a close-up?, yet I'm familiar with pollen:



Cheers,
Bart

I love this image.. absolutely love it!  And I don't say that often.  Brilliantly captured and processed to show this phenomenon..

[Todd Suttles]

I love this image.. absolutely love it!  And I don't say that often.  Brilliantly captured and processed to show this phenomenon..

Thank You for the approval and your comments. I appreciate. -t