Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: David Eckels on February 04, 2022, 11:40:07 am

Title: Dante's View
Post by: David Eckels on February 04, 2022, 11:40:07 am
Reinterpreting a DV image from 2014.
Color version or lightly toned?
Title: Re: Dante's View
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on February 04, 2022, 12:09:49 pm
I'll vote for the lightly toned version, as the colors don't add anything for me.

Vey nice image. Better than anything I got from Dante's View.

Title: Re: Dante's View
Post by: Michael West on February 04, 2022, 12:42:34 pm
Reinterpreting a DV image from 2014.
Color version or lightly toned?

Lightly toned . Somber works
Title: Re: Dante's View
Post by: John R on February 04, 2022, 03:30:07 pm
I like the colour version, but the bottom left does stand out quite a bit despite being in soft light. My feeling is that the foreground peak or mountain makes that part more dominant and breaks the rhythm of the background mountains. When you couple that with soft glow or tone of the bottom left it becomes even more dominant. I think that's why the light, almost monotone version, seems to have a better balance. However, if you try toning that bottom left tone in the colour version, it may appear more balanced, more co-equal with its background. If you scroll the page and make the light tones disappear you will see what I mean. My two cents.

JR



Title: Re: Dante's View
Post by: David Eckels on February 04, 2022, 05:39:15 pm
I like the colour version, but the bottom left does stand out quite a bit despite being in soft light. My feeling is that the foreground peak or mountain makes that part more dominant and breaks the rhythm of the background mountains. When you couple that with soft glow or tone of the bottom left it becomes even more dominant. I think that's why the light, almost monotone version, seems to have a better balance. However, if you try toning that bottom left tone in the colour version, it may appear more balanced, more co-equal with its background. If you scroll the page and make the light tones disappear you will see what I mean. My two cents.

JR
John, are you saying that if the tones and luminosity of the bottom three ridges in the color version were more like those of the semi-monotone version, I might be able to cut down the dominance and improve balance?
Title: Re: Dante's View
Post by: John R on February 04, 2022, 08:59:38 pm
John, are you saying that if the tones and luminosity of the bottom three ridges in the color version were more like those of the semi-monotone version, I might be able to cut down the dominance and improve balance?
Exactly! Essentially, I think that is what you have done in the monotone version.

JR
Title: Re: Dante's View
Post by: Bob_B on February 05, 2022, 06:47:30 am
I agree with John R: tonal balance is key. Also, I might attempt to subdue the fringing on the peaks against the sky. That said, you have a great image here.
Title: Re: Dante's View
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 05, 2022, 08:20:16 am
Stop omphaloskepsis and go out and shoot fresh  ;)
Title: Re: Dante's View
Post by: francois on February 05, 2022, 08:47:07 am
I have a slight preference for the lightly toned version. Colors are not that spectacular and don't bring much vs the LT version.
I love the successive ridge lines, it's a "deep" landscape.

Well done.
Title: Re: Dante's View
Post by: David Eckels on February 05, 2022, 04:04:53 pm
I appreciate the input and I've stopped with the omphaloskepsis (great word!)
Dante's view was not only of hell so I stuck with the color version, but toned down the front ridge line.
Title: Re: Dante's View
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on February 05, 2022, 04:20:32 pm
Very nice indeed.

(And it doesn't need any additional omphaloanything.)
Title: Re: Dante's View
Post by: John R on February 05, 2022, 04:35:43 pm
Very nice indeed.

(And it doesn't need any additional omphaloanything.)
Yes sir, the rhythm comes through beautifully, as does the soft light; almost pastel-like. Also I wasn't about to challenge Eric cause I don't know what 'omphalo' means ;)
Title: Re: Dante's View
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 05, 2022, 06:08:53 pm
Now, in all seriousness (and what else would you expect from me?), I simply prefer your original version. Color-wise. Compositionally, it does feel a bit cut-off at the bottom.
Title: Re: Dante's View
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on February 05, 2022, 06:19:17 pm
Also I wasn't about to challenge Eric cause I don't know what 'omphalo' means ;)
If you ever meet an Omphalo in a dark alley, be sure to ask: "What are you, sir or madam?"

And then tell me. ;)
Title: Re: Dante's View
Post by: David Eckels on February 06, 2022, 07:59:59 am
Now, in all seriousness (and what else would you expect from me?), I simply prefer your original version. Colo-wise. Compositionally, it does feel a bit cut-off at the bottom.
That is interesting feedback, Slobodan. Of course, it WAS cut off from the bottom ;) I felt the lower ridges, dark or light, were too dominant. In my mind :o they were symbolic of hell, but that wasn't the only thing Dante saw in The Divine Comedy and I wanted to "lift" the viewer's eyes to that reality, thus the color. Whether I was successful depends. The range of reactions is quite interesting and much appreciated.
I will have to see how the un-cropped version hits me though as all processing was done on this cropped version.
Title: Re: Dante's View
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 06, 2022, 09:18:28 am
… I don't know what 'omphalo' means ;)

Omphaloskepsis = a fancy Latin word for the good, old “navel gazing”  :)
Title: Re: Dante's View
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on February 06, 2022, 12:23:48 pm
And I thought there was a poem about an Omphalo. Something like this:

"The other day upon the stair
I met an Omphalo who wasn't there.
The Omphalo was there again today>
Oh, how I wish he's go away!"

I'm not sure I have it quite right. The meter seems a bit off.