Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Harald L on June 06, 2013, 06:27:00 pm

Title: Mt. Doom
Post by: Harald L on June 06, 2013, 06:27:00 pm
I prefer the name from Lord of the Rings as I can't speak Mt. Ngauruhoe properly.

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8357/8429569889_f235df700a_b.jpg)
Title: Re: Mt. Doom
Post by: David Eckels on June 07, 2013, 07:58:28 am
This image has potential, but the sky is overdone IMHO and the foreground is too bland for my taste. Toning down the contrast in the clouds without losing the dappled shadows on the mountains? Upping the saturation in the f/g? Some will find my comment ironic b/c I have received similar critiques! Other ideas: Panoramic crop? Do you have more sky to work with? I find the long bladed plants in the f/g distracting and if I move the bottom of the photo out of my monitor's frame, I like it better, but then that's more of pano aspect.
Title: Re: Mt. Doom
Post by: Harald L on June 07, 2013, 10:09:13 am
... Some will find my comment ironic b/c I have received similar critiques! ...

Bullshit. Thank you for your contribution. I've coped several times with this shot and this version is just an idea to overcome the over-saturated colors of New Zealand. I have a lot of pictures of NZ's cold rain forrest and that heavy-tinted green is a real challenge. I will come back with further ideas...
Title: Re: Mt. Doom
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on June 07, 2013, 03:37:58 pm
... the sky is overdone IMHO and the foreground is too bland for my taste...

+1
Title: Re: Mt. Doom
Post by: William Walker on June 08, 2013, 12:08:35 am
Why not "go the whole hog" and desaturated it completely?
Title: Re: Mt. Doom
Post by: Chris Calohan on June 08, 2013, 08:14:21 am
I think Dave and William are both right in their assessments. In this edit, I've gone to a full monochrome with three changes of emphasis based on your own assessment.

I refocused the mid quadrant as the prominent focal point to give the eye a place to rest momentarily before attacking Mt. Doom

I darkened the foreground to assist in pushing the eye upward

I de-saturated and de-structured the clouds to allow Mt. Doom to thrust upward and not be overpowered.

In addition, for my own sense of balance, I went to a pano crop, placing the lower thirds quadrant line  at the break between the foreground bushes and the mid-ground in the mid-quadrant. It is just another opinion.

(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3691/8986453702_364c3cf8e8_o.jpg)
Title: Re: Mt. Doom
Post by: Harald L on June 08, 2013, 09:12:03 am
Thank you guys for your suggestions. I will come back to it as soon as I recovered my archive-system.
Title: Re: Mt. Doom
Post by: David Eckels on June 08, 2013, 09:59:38 am
Chris, very interesting to see your analysis and explanation of your strategy to deal with the image. Are/were you by any chance an art teacher? I do like what you did and the way it emphasized Mt Doom. Harlem, thanks for sharing this with us.
Title: Re: Mt. Doom
Post by: francois on June 08, 2013, 09:59:57 am
FWIW, I had exactly the same feelings mentioned by David but I love Chris' B&W version. Mt Doom is even more threatening in B&W.
Title: Re: Mt. Doom
Post by: RSL on June 08, 2013, 11:44:53 am
Very nice, Chris.
Title: Re: Mt. Doom
Post by: Chris Calohan on June 08, 2013, 04:07:34 pm
Chris, very interesting to see your analysis and explanation of your strategy to deal with the image. Are/were you by any chance an art teacher? I do like what you did and the way it emphasized Mt Doom. Harlem, thanks for sharing this with us.

I was an art teacher for 20 years. I wondered if my teacher voice was coming through.  ;D
Title: Re: Mt. Doom
Post by: Damon Lynch on June 08, 2013, 04:40:52 pm
I prefer the name from Lord of the Rings as I can't speak Mt. Ngauruhoe properly.

The pronunciation is not difficult! English pronunciation: Nah-eu-ru-ho-eh. Māori IPA: [ŋauɾuhoe]. When I was a kid I'd pronounce it Nara-ho-ee, but that is probably as much wrong as it is right.
Title: Re: Mt. Doom
Post by: William Walker on June 09, 2013, 01:47:05 am
Very nice, Chris.

An altogether more pleasing result, I think.
Title: Re: Mt. Doom
Post by: Harald L on June 09, 2013, 05:42:17 am
Thank you again for your helpful C&C. Particularly the pano-crop works very well for me. I've added another picture from a different angle of view