Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: graeme on September 01, 2013, 01:06:39 pm
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Took this on the canal at Alrewas, Staffordshire, UK a few days ago. The beak is a bit blurry - does it bother anyone. ( Have PShopped it but might do some more work ).
All comments appreciated.
Graeme
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Took this on the canal at Alrewas, Staffordshire, UK a few days ago. The beak is a bit blurry - does it bother anyone. ( Have PShopped it but might do some more work ).
All comments appreciated.
Graeme
Great balance achieved there - not always possible with those kinds of shapes in a vertical. Another reason to love the Hasselblad 500 Series!
Had you not mentioned the bill, I wouldn't have noticed anything - still don't at that scale, so why worry about it? Can't have everything all the time, and maybe just as well. Very pleasing exactly as it is.
Rob C
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Wonderful, Graeme. When I look at it Saint Saens's "Le cygne" starts playing in my head.
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Very elegant.
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Nicely done.
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Nicely done!
Mike.
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Took this on the canal at Alrewas, Staffordshire, UK a few days ago. The beak is a bit blurry - does it bother anyone. ( Have PShopped it but might do some more work ).
I don't think the slight blur is noticeable enough to matter at all. I like the shot, and I even quite like the feeling of vertigo it inspires. The only alteration I might make is to clone out the reeds at the top: they don't seem necessary.
Jeremy
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Gorgeous. Wonderfully balanced and very elegant.
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…The only alteration I might make is to clone out the reeds at the top: they don't seem necessary.
Jeremy
I agree, it would make it cleaner. It's a superb image.
Bravo
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I don't think the slight blur is noticeable enough to matter at all. I like the shot, and I even quite like the feeling of vertigo it inspires. The only alteration I might make is to clone out the reeds at the top: they don't seem necessary.
Jeremy
+1.
Did you try it in B&W?
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Thanks for all the kind words & suggestions guys.
The reeds at the top are actually quite important to me. I like them because they're part of a chain of visual elements which fall in from the edge of the image ( and from the world outside the photo ) and culminate at the beak of the swan.
Yes Walter, I've had a quick play at a B&W version. It could probably do with a little adjustment brush work & curve tweaking but I'm pleased with it so far.
Regards
Graeme
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I love to clone out extraneous bits from my images but I think you are correct in leaving them in with this one. Cloned out details or not it's a great image. Both color and b/w work here.
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Nicely elegant composition. I think the color dynamic between the reeds and the beak is an important contract to the dynamic line mirroring of those two elements, so I think the color version is much stronger.
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The picture needs to be in color and the reeds are essential; without them there's really no picture: just a snap of a bird from up on the bridge.
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The picture needs to be in color and the reeds are essential; without them there's really no picture: just a snap of a bird from up on the bridge.
Once again, I find I have to agree with you. It's a fine image as first presented to us. Does zich in black/white as per the latest version. Very often one should stick with first impressions. I regret having seen the black/white.
Rob C
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The picture needs to be in color and the reeds are essential; without them there's really no picture: just a snap of a bird from up on the bridge.
Me too. The reeds make it and the colour adds dynamism.
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The picture needs to be in color and the reeds are essential; without them there's really no picture: just a snap of a bird from up on the bridge.
I agree with you about the colour, Russ, but which reeds? The main clump is vital, obviously; I'm not convinced by the few extraneous stalks, though.
Jeremy
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I think you're right, Jeremy. The stalks in the upper right probably can go.
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I like the extraneous stalks, they make the thing look more "real," a little more lively, a little less black velvet background. If they were really obtrusive, I might feel differently. For that reason I also like the dark reflections at the bottom of the frame.
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Hi Jeremy
Lovely shot - forget about B&W, the colour makes the image.
Is that you in the reflections in the middle of the bottom bit of the photo? That is the only bit that bothers me.
Ed
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How the hell did Jeremy get into my photo?!!! :o :o :o
Yes it is my reflection at the bottom of the image. When viewed at a larger size than the attached jpeg or as an A3+ glossy print there are quite a few subtle reflections & colour changes in the water, which I like. None - studio photos are always going to capture some of the accidental mess of the real world, unless we photoshop them into illustrations or wall posters.
The extraneous stalks ( I'm getting to like that phrase ) aren't extraneous to my eyes so they stay.
Yeah the colour version is stronger but the b&w is OK in a quiet kind of way when viewed at a larger scale.
Thanks again for the input.
Graeme
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How the hell did Jeremy get into my photo?!!! :o :o :o
Graeme
Oops! I didn't check up thread properly and must have had a brain fart. A thousand apologies. :-[
Ed