Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Landscape & Nature Photography => Topic started by: lorenzettifoto on March 04, 2012, 12:33:38 pm
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This morning I took a ride in the hills of "Orciano Pisano" I tried to do some shooting
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For me, the B&W treatment does not work, at least not on this contrast level. For me, Tuscany is all about gently rolling hills, misty mornings, soft light and pastel colors, none of which (aside from the hills) appears to be captured here.
The inclusion of the hand of man (the stop sign, letters on the road) further ruins the image for me (sorry, Russ). It just kills the timelessness that I associate with images of Tuscany. Yes, I am aware that the road itself is another "hand of man", yet, without those obvious signs of modernity, it could have been a dirt road from a bygone era just as well.
Compositionally, the inclusion of the road parallel to the bottom of the image breaks the gentle s-curve that so nicely leads the eye through the image.
I am a great fan of your photography, by the way, so I hope that this critique will be perceived as helpful.
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Of course it will be perceived as useful..
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The beef of the pic is the tree and house at the top of the frame. The intersection of roads ruins the visual point of interest. My eye wanders back & forth from the hilltop to the intersection.
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My immediate impression was exactly the same as Slobodan's. The image would be improved by cropping a little off the bottom, so the road junction and the road running across are removed. I too think your b&w conversion isn't appropriate. I'd be very interested to see the original and to hear why you thought this particular shot would be better without colour.
You've posted some wonderful shots to this forum, but this, as it stands, isn't among them.
Jeremy
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today may not be the right day.
I was not very convinced of this shot, but I wanted to post for a confirmation.
I'm sorry for not being at the height of your expectations.
later I'll be more careful about the choices.
The criticisms are always for grow
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try to remedy with this shot
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Love the lines, tones and patterns of this second shot. Two points you might consider are:
- bringing up the shadow values slightly to create more liveliness in those areas; and
- cropping slightly off the left (making it closer to a square) to provide better balance OR, if there is more to the right, including it - at least to the furrow that's cut-off- to balance the left.
That being said, it might just be my misplaced sense of balance and completeness talking. Thanks for sharing.
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I was also thinking it needed a crop on the left, so that the very bright line points directly into the corner. It's a much more interesting picture than the first.
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I would really like to see this one in color
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I actually really like the image and it's composition. I think the way you have the bottom road parallel to the bottom of the image works very well and was clear in your mind when composing the shot.
I have some issue with the photo though
I think although the black and white would work best so as to really bring out the graphic forms in the shot - the hills with different tones and the 2 roads but I feel looks over cooked. You seem to have pretty much burned out the lighter tones of the road and the ploughed fields (which to have dark tones from the brown soil) look way to dark. I'm sure you were looking for high contrast but I just think you went too far.
Although I do feel the composition at the base of the image works well and shouldn't be cropped, I do agree with Slobodan that the modern day signage and road markings definitly take away from it. Or course they could easily be removed if you want to. ;)
I actually don't think the left of the image should be cropped. I think it works well. I think the space to the left of the curve balances well with the bit of space to the right of where the curved road meets the bottom road. As I am sure you intended there is just enough to include the shadow from the left tree. Cropping the shadow would weaken the image. If the soil wasn't so dark you would see the contrast between the sunlit soil and the soil in shadow.
These are all post production issues and I think itself image has a lot of potential.
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First I would like to congratulate you for the award he received.
When I took this shot, I was sure of the parallel street, I saw in my mind as well.
Your assistance is very relevant, have I over cooked the highlights, but my style is the images more dramatic than in this picture does not work.
Now I understand why the image is very weak, the fact remains that it is not one of my best pictures, however, with his speech have I clear ideas of how to do post-production.
best regards and thank
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Hi Lorenzo.
I'm afraid I have to dssagree with you. I think your image is indeed quite strong :) It just need a bit of work with post production.
Sure. I completely understand that your were going for a high contrast affect but you still need to retain information in the highlights and shadows. You can still have a high contrast image. You just need some practice on that. The best thing is though of course the RAW image is strong :)
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I like the first one...a lot!
I like images that require me to bounce around and make meaning...figure out the story, so to speak. For me the stop sign doesn't harm it at all. As a matter of fact, it actually acts (along with the road at the bottom) as an anchor into the image. I can make sense of it all in the context of the winding roads. The farmhouse is delightfully isolated along the skyline. The solar panels (only noticed after several strolls around the image) make the story even more interesting. I haven't been to Tuscany, so I bring no preconceived notions about what it should look like, but I like the shot because of its complexity, not despite its complexity. I would lighten the expsure on the foreground fields.
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Lorenzo maybe I am less critical, I think both images are really great the 1st image with all the critique it got I find really well composed and if the eye drifts to the bottom it is pushed back by the road to the ploughed field in the centre so maybe it has a purpose, as for the STOP sign it is just part of the landscape.
The second can't fault it, just beautiful.
That is what makes life interesting different things please/displease