Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Jeremy Roussak on July 09, 2014, 03:09:38 pm
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The magical Bryce seems to be flavour of the month. Comments on this one?
Jeremy
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I like the colors. It is a welcome change from Kevin Rabner's recent photo on the LULA home page, which has the colors pumped up way too much, IMO. As for your photo, I might try cropping off about 20% at the top - those distant, out-of-focus, and bland hillsides do not add anything to the photo, at least to my eye. Bryce is a great place, to be sure!
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A nice, realistic rendering, where the sense of wonder comes from the place itself, not post-processing.
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It's always a beautiful spot, Jeremy.
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Yes, it does seem like a magical place. I like the colours and light in this photograph. However, the only movement I see is the road disappearing into the top left; not the kind of movement you want. Try reducing the tonal vales of the background (which will also help to enhance the trees on the ridge in top right). You could also try cloning out the road (sorry, Russ, but it's art). Also, throw in a grad filter starting at the bottom and going up to just below the lit rock. This will also help "shape" the presentation.
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…the only movement I see is…
"Actually, the artist invites the spectator to take a journey within the realm of the canvas. The spectator must move with the artist's shapes in and out, under and above, diagonally and horizontally; he must curve around spheres, pass through tunnels, glide down inclines, at times perform an aerial feat of flying from point to point, attracted by some irresistible magnet across space, entering into mysterious recesses -- and if the painting is felicitous, do so at varying and related intervals. … Without taking the journey, the spectator has really missed the essential experience of the picture."
The Artist's Reality: Philosophies of Art, Mark Rothko, page 47 (http://books.google.com/books?id=YE1rbTSeGt8C&lpg=PA47&vq=%22the%20artist%20invites%20the%20spectator%22&pg=PA47#v=snippet&q=%22the%20artist%20invites%20the%20spectator%22&f=false)
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"Actually, the artist invites the spectator to take a journey within the realm of the canvas. The spectator must move with the artist's shapes in and out, under and above, diagonally and horizontally; he must curve around spheres, pass through tunnels, glide down inclines, at times perform an aerial feat of flying from point to point, attracted by some irresistible magnet across space, entering into mysterious recesses -- and if the painting is felicitous, do so at varying and related intervals. … Without taking the journey, the spectator has really missed the essential experience of the picture."
The Artist's Reality: Philosophies of Art, Mark Rothko, page 47
Sadly, I'm a prosaic sort of chap and I have no idea what he's on about. Llooking at a few of his works, I can't imagine how to apply what he writes to them.
Jeremy
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…I have no idea what he's on about.
You can make it more or less likely that first we look there, and then we look there, and then over there. Terry noted the absence of that experience of movement.
Llooking at a few of his works, I can't imagine how to apply what he writes to them.
We'd need to see the canvases rather than web-reductions, and even then…
More prosaically "…the human eye scans a scene in a predictable sequence… (http://books.google.com/books?id=rakXWudn_JMC&lpg=PT68&vq=%22the%20human%20eye%20scans%20a%20scene%20in%20a%20predictable%20sequence%22&pg=PT68#v=onepage&q&f=false)"
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Yes, it does seem like a magical place. I like the colours and light in this photograph. However, the only movement I see is the road disappearing into the top left; not the kind of movement you want. Try reducing the tonal vales of the background (which will also help to enhance the trees on the ridge in top right). You could also try cloning out the road (sorry, Russ, but it's art). Also, throw in a grad filter starting at the bottom and going up to just below the lit rock. This will also help "shape" the presentation.
Interesting ideas. A gradient mask at the bottom does indeed enhance the image. What exactly do you mean by "reducing the tonal values" of the background?
Jeremy
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Interesting ideas. A gradient mask at the bottom does indeed enhance the image. What exactly do you mean by "reducing the tonal values" of the background?
Jeremy
In the top portion, "behind" the red rock pillars is the partly forested side of a mountain, mostly in shade. If this area was selectively darkened by ½ a stop or so (–0.5), it would enhance the line of lit trees in the upper right and help "contain" viewers in the part of the photo of greatest interest. Essentially, you are deepening the shaded areas to help shape the photo.
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I think Terry is right (as usual). I'm thinking of hiring him to PP all my photos. ;)
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In the top portion, "behind" the red rock pillars is the partly forested side of a mountain, mostly in shade. If this area was selectively darkened by ½ a stop or so (–0.5), it would enhance the line of lit trees in the upper right and help "contain" viewers in the part of the photo of greatest interest. Essentially, you are deepening the shaded areas to help shape the photo.
Got it. I'll give it a bash when I get home.
Jeremy
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Something like this, Terry? It's certainly better. I've not cloned out the road at the upper left, but I've made it much less visible using an adjustment brush in LR.
Jeremy
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Yes, that's the idea. The top left could use it, too. You might want to increase the contrast and drop the values a little further in the upper areas.
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Yes, that's the idea. The top left could use it, too. You might want to increase the contrast and drop the values a little further in the upper areas.
Thanks, Terry.
Jeremy