Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: RSL on August 10, 2013, 09:40:20 pm
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Russ,
Very rich colour and detail, plus lovely design, but the blurred foliage on the bottom right is a distraction to me. Any chance you might get rid of it - after all, you have plenty of comfort with that Nikon power-horse. Also, I hate to say it, but maybe a tighter, ahem, crop on the whole image plus a little adjustment brush in Lightroom on that slightly burned out, bright area between the two trees and further on would work wonders for what is a lovely picture. I hesitate to offer my rendition, but at my peril, here goes (I've only worked on the crop - the exposure details I leave to yourself):
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Russ, I agree with Seamus about the blurred foliage in the bottom right and I like his crop. When I include something like that (not infrequently), I curse myself for not looking through the viewfinder with adequate care, but a non-cropper such as you, that can't have been the reason, can it? ;)
Otherwise, it's a fine image.
Jeremy
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Russ, I agree with the others about the distraction in bottom right corner.
I like the light, the colour, even perhaps the composition. But overall I ask myself why. Why did you take it, because while it's technically very good, it leaves me feeling there needs to be something else there - in the yard, enclosed by the fence. To me all the ingredients are there, except for a compelling subject. I don't really subscribe to the view that every picture has to have a focal point, but in this case I would have liked one (unless I have missed it). The atmosphere, in my opinion, is not strong enough to carry the picture on it's own.
Jim
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But overall I ask myself why. Why did you take it, because while it's technically very good, it leaves me feeling there needs to be something else there - in the yard, enclosed by the fence. To me all the ingredients are there, except for a compelling subject. I don't really subscribe to the view that every picture has to have a focal point, but in this case I would have liked one (unless I have missed it). The atmosphere, in my opinion, is not strong enough to carry the picture on it's own
Jim is spot on here...there isn't an interesting subject. There is a rhythm created by different elements and the the light/color is somewhat interesting...but not nearly enough to overcome the lack of "compelling subject".
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This any better? The close foliage in the lower right didn't really bother me, and I very much wanted that pot in the picture. But I knew it would bother a few of you perfectionists.
No, it's not great art. I've shot this scene maybe two dozen times at various times of the year. The pattern of the fence is what always grabs me as I descend the hill. There's never quite enough of an open space close to the camera to get the scene the way I really want it.
Next time I walk down that hill I'll try it again.
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That's much better. I like the lines of the fence, and the pot.
I have a friend who used to use an 11x14" view camera for all of his work. He would have carried a hatchet and a pruner, and maybe even a chain saw with him to such a scene.
I guess you might call it "precropping." ;)
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This any better?
A little, and I understand why you like the pot in the frame. Content-aware fill has left a heavy imprint, though. Show us what you get the next time you walk down that hill.
Jeremy
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Eric, I'd carry a folding pruning saw and chop the bush. It's well away from anybody's yard. Only problem is that if I step off the road to cut the branch I'm going to find myself, without further ado, at the bottom of the hill.
Jeremy, I thought about moving the pot with Photoshop, and the clone job I did is a long way from exhibition grade, but there's a limit to how much time I want to spend with this one. Jim's and Brandt's critiques explain why. Don't get me wrong, I like this shot, but it's not something I plan to take around to local galleries.
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That's much better. I like the lines of the fence, and the pot.
I have a friend who used to use an 11x14" view camera for all of his work. He would have carried a hatchet and a pruner, and maybe even a chain saw with him to such a scene.
I guess you might call it "precropping." ;)
I recall that after a long and illustrious career in photography that Fred Picker's reputation was destroyed totally due to a chorus of denigration that erupted when he admitted to having removed naturally occurring vegetation from a scene before shooting.
W
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I recall that after a long and illustrious career in photography that Fred Picker's reputation was destroyed totally due to a chorus of denigration that erupted when he admitted to having removed naturally occurring vegetation from a scene before shooting.
W
I have been immersed in LF since 1978. In my circles (which includes a couple of former employees of his) nobody gave a crap about that. It had 0 impact on his reputation IME amongst the couple of hundred old fart LF photographers I associate with. Heck Ansel was known to do it too. Me too. And I have never been anything but honest about it. Hasn't done anything to my career. Heck-It might be even a LF tradition.......:)
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Here's a re-shoot from this morning. Couldn't get out quite early enough, so the light's not quite as good as in the first shoot. I was able to find a position that gave me a less intrusive interfering branch from the left side. Cloned that out (somewhat clumsily) but the pot's there, and the offending bush on the right is out of the picture.
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Here's a re-shoot from this morning. Couldn't get out quite early enough, so the light's not quite as good as in the first shoot. I was able to find a position that gave me a less intrusive interfering branch from the left side. Cloned that out (somewhat clumsily) but the pot's there, and the offending bush on the right is out of the picture.
I think I prefer that framing. The enclosed yard occupies more of the image, so there's less "wasted" space on the left.
Jeremy
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I think I prefer that framing. The enclosed yard occupies more of the image, so there's less "wasted" space on the left.
Jeremy
I agree. Now go back and photograph it just like that, but when the light is identical to that on the day of the OP.
Actually, if I hadn't seen the first version, the light wouldn't bother me in this one. I like it, and the pot is in the right place.
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Simple but effective, I like it.
Cheers,
Bernard
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At great personal risk I found a teeter point where I could stand and bypass all the bushes. Didn't have to clone anything this time.
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At great personal risk I found a teeter point where I could stand and bypass all the bushes. Didn't have to clone anything this time.
I prefer the tighter composition of the version in reply #11, Russ, but it's your shot. I would clone out the couple of tiny blurred leaves on the extreme right of this one, though: 30 seconds with CAF!
Jeremy