Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Jeremy Roussak on October 20, 2012, 08:45:59 am
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Thoughts?
Jeremy
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Hi Jeremy,
At first glance I thought it looked a bit bland, probably because most photographs of the American Southwest Red Rock country have the saturation pushed too high. But it kept my interest, and I began to find subtleties that I really enjoy: The contrast of the light foreground against dark hills beyond, and the varieties of hues in the foreground hills. The clouds in the upper left nicely balance the pointy hill on the right.
Somebody will no doubt complain that the image is tilted and should be straightened. But there is no internal information in the image to say definitively whether the ground is sloping or not. I would be (somewhat) tempted to straighten it, but I find it a very satisfying, well-composed shot.
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I would be (somewhat) tempted to straighten it, but I find it a very satisfying, well-composed shot.
Me too, just to give the shot a solid base. I might also crop out that cloud in the top right corner.
I enjoy the shapes and colours in the rocks.
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Jeremy, I think this is an excellent composition.
I would not consider straightening the gentle scrub-covered slope because the context makes the angle believable and understandable. (Contrast that with a shoreline that goes away at a slight angle and looks a little wierd in a two-dimensional photograph.)
Cropping the dark blue wedge of cloud/sky in the right upper corner would go against the grain for me because I am a complete sucker when it comes to beautiful cloud formations such as found in the left upper half of your composition. Perhaps some gentle local adjustments to reduce the contrast in the upper right corner may work.
The only real suggestion that I would make is a subtle increase in overall exposure as well as an equally subtle increase in overall contrast. My rationale would be to really make those beautiful cloud formations come alive as well as slightly increase the definition of the rocks and the mountains.
Well done
Tony Jay
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At first look, I thought of another good Southwest photo but I kept the image on my display for hours (a good sign) and I've got to agree with Eric's comments, the image has all the interesting elements and in the right "order".
Well done!
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Hi Jeremy, At first I didn't like it, but I kept coming back to it and eventually it began speaking to me in hushed tones. I really like the color contrasts and symmetries. Good shooting.
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Let me be the first PITA and say that the tilted horizon bothers me
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Richard, Eric said it way back near the top. There's nothing in this picture to use as a reference to tell you the horizon is tilted. People are seeing horizons that don't exist. That foreground isn't a horizon.
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Thanks, all. I think you've understood, and I've managed to get across, what I found appealing about the scene. It was a cloudy day with patchy sunshine so the usual vivid reds weren't in evidence.
The foreground line isn't a horizon. Whether the shot would look better if that line were made straight is another question and one dependent on taste: I'm usually the first to notice when a true horizon isn't level and it disturbs me.
The image is in fact the left half of a rather larger panorama, which I attach here. It struck me that there wasn't much of real interest in the right half and that it just detracted from the overall effect, but I'd interested in your views.
Jeremy
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I prefer the wider pano. Maybe it comes from seeing so much like it stretching on and on from a car window, also though, I like the right side better than left.
I enjoy the pano very much.
Bruce
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Hi Russ, yes, I know there isn't a reference point per se, but that doesn't make it less bothersome *to me* that it looks like it is tilted. YMMV.
And as a certified pano lover, I prefer the wider view as well. Go wild, be bold :-)
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I happen to think that the wider panorama is also a very effective image.
My $0.02 worth
Tony Jay
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Both pictures work for me Jeremy. I just love the subtle colours.