Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Alex_B on December 26, 2008, 11:20:38 am

Title: Reindeer in flight
Post by: Alex_B on December 26, 2008, 11:20:38 am

Merry Christmas everyone (or happy holidays for those who do not celebrate Christmas)!

This is my first post on this forum. I posted the image also on another forum and asked colleagues for their comments. It appears to really divide people's opinions and polarise ...

(http://www.imagevault.eu/fm/5477_w.jpg)
(Reindeer in Swedish Lapland)

My intention was to give a feeling of flight/fast motion and still show some of the surrounding landscape (trees in the background, autumn colours, ...).

Cheers,
Alex

Title: Reindeer in flight
Post by: dalethorn on December 26, 2008, 11:30:16 am

Quote from: Alex_B

Merry Christmas everyone (or happy holidays for those who do not celebrate Christmas)!

This is my first post on this forum. I posted the image also on another forum and asked colleagues for their comments. It appears to really divide people's opinions and polarise ...

(http://www.imagevault.eu/fm/5477_w.jpg)
(Reindeer in Swedish Lapland)

My intention was to give a feeling of flight/fast motion and still show some of the surrounding landscape (trees in the background, autumn colours, ...).

Cheers,
Alex

Somehow the combination of streaking in both the animals and the background is just too much blur overall.

Title: Reindeer in flight
Post by: mahleu on December 26, 2008, 12:25:09 pm

I like it but i'd prefer if the reindeer at the front were sharp with the others blurred.

Title: Reindeer in flight
Post by: bretedge on December 26, 2008, 12:56:01 pm

Beautiful colors and tones.  I would prefer to see the reindeer sharper, especially the ones at the front of the pack.

Title: Reindeer in flight
Post by: Chairman Bill on December 26, 2008, 02:00:05 pm

I ried looking at it as one of those Magic Eye pictures. Quite weird. The sharply focussed reindeer stood out almost 3D.  

Title: Reindeer in flight
Post by: Alex_B on December 26, 2008, 06:00:19 pm

Thanks for all your comments and opinions.

Maybe my original version only works in large print. For those of you who feel the blur-to-sharp ratio is out of balance, I could offer two tight crops. They of course cannot be used for large printing any more due to the crop, but might inspire myself for future images of similar scenes:

(http://www.imagevault.eu/fm/double_r_w.jpg)

(http://www.imagevault.eu/fm/single_r_w.jpg)

Title: Reindeer in flight
Post by: wolfnowl on December 27, 2008, 02:48:48 am

I like it.  Seeing as how you're panning laterally to keep up with the reindeer, and since they're moving both vertically and laterally (bounding as they move), I think you've done a pretty good job of keeping focus.  It would be nice if they were a bit more focused, but we've all looked at our images and thought, 'Well, I could have done that better'.

Mike.

Title: Reindeer in flight
Post by: Alex_B on December 27, 2008, 08:32:51 am

Quote from: wolfnowl

'Well, I could have done that better'.

Thanks Mike, yes, I always could have done better with all my images, that is true
Next time I will try a shorter exposure for animals moving that fast.

Title: Reindeer in flight
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on December 27, 2008, 11:23:29 am

I rather like the panning effect. Of course it is impossible to get several objects moving at different speeds all to look sharp using a slow shutter speed, but I suspect that the sense of movement will be lost with a fast shutter speed.
Of the variants you have shown so far, my favorite is the first cropped version, in which one reindeer is sharp, while the other and the backgropund are blurred. Very effective, IMHO.

Title: Reindeer in flight
Post by: Alex_B on December 28, 2008, 07:54:12 am

Thanks for the feedback Eric. This all helps me to get the perfect shot one day in the distant future

Of course now we could start a discussion if there is anything like a perfect shot at all, or if it is all subjective.

Title: Reindeer in flight
Post by: Ken Bennett on December 28, 2008, 09:31:47 am

You have one good sharp reindeer, and for me that is enough. I like the photo a lot.

Title: Reindeer in flight
Post by: dalethorn on December 28, 2008, 09:44:25 am

Quote from: Alex_B

Thanks for the feedback Eric. This all helps me to get the perfect shot one day in the distant future

Of course now we could start a discussion if there is anything like a perfect shot at all, or if it is all subjective.

The perfect shot is the interesting shot, and judging by the number of replies here, the arguments are stacking up in your favor.

Title: Reindeer in flight
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on December 28, 2008, 09:44:27 pm

I hope I never get a perfect shot, because if I did, I would have nothing to look forward to.  

Title: Reindeer in flight
Post by: Alex_B on January 01, 2009, 08:15:11 am

I agree, once everything you produce is perfect. things get boring after a while.

Title: Reindeer in flight
Post by: jani on January 01, 2009, 11:41:04 am

Well, there's a distinct difference between Eric's sentiment (the one "perfect" shot) and yours, Alex (every shot is "perfect").

I would disagree with Eric; I don't see the problem. There's always the challenge of capturing the next "perfect" shot, and the next after that.

I've captured shots that I thought were "perfect" myself, and which I couldn't find ways of improving. Fine, that was that particular subject, but there are so many other people, things, landscapes and situations to photograph that it doesn't matter.

There's no point to disagreeing with Alex, as that's utopia.