Advice Please!

[MR.FEESH]

So I rather like the way this is set up, and I'm wondering if I could get some opinions in the way of silhouetting.

This is where I want to start:




What I wanted to get some advice on, is whether to silhouette the rock wall on the left (which it almost totally is now), or bring out some detail by adding a little light.
I'm pretty certain I like the statue itself a silhouette, but maybe some of you think otherwise and would like to share that reasoning, that would be great too!

Feel free to express any other concerns about the picture too!

Elby

[pegelli]

Very nice silhouette, I like how from this angle the profile of the face is just to be seen in front of the raised wings.

My personal opinion would be that the silhouette works best in total black w/o detail, but you'll probably find a split audience on that. Very much personal taste.

Two other coments on the picture:
- I would slightly warm up the light on the rocks/mountains in the background
- overall composition seems a bit unbalanced with all black at the left half. Maybe a crop from the left (keeping the same height, so a narrower aspect ratio) could help this. From my perspective this is the biggest "problem" I see with the picture.

Hope this helps.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I agree with everything Pegelli has said.

I'll add that having a little detail visible in the rock wall on the left might solve the problem he mentioned. It's worth a try.

[MR.FEESH]

Wow- both very useful posts indeed!
I re-visited the picture, and played around with it a bit.  I guess there just wasn't enough light to begin with because I can't fully lighten up the rock wall to expose some detail, the bottom always remains black.  So I suppose the wall will have to stay a silhouette.  
As for the cropping, I'm certainly having some trouble finding a natural balance.  
Also the comment about warming up the background mountains was in very good taste... I zoomed in to find them much more blue than normal mountains (especially from that area) should be!

[walter.sk]

So I rather like the way this is set up, and I'm wondering if I could get some opinions in the way of silhouetting.

This is where I want to start:




What I wanted to get some advice on, is whether to silhouette the rock wall on the left (which it almost totally is now), or bring out some detail by adding a little light.
I'm pretty certain I like the statue itself a silhouette, but maybe some of you think otherwise and would like to share that reasoning, that would be great too!

Feel free to express any other concerns about the picture too!

Elby

I like the interplay between the edge of the rock wall and the statue, as well as the interesting negative space between them.  I think that is where the picture lies, and a vertical format would suit it better.  If it could be reshot, including some more of the rock wall to the left and shooting in portrait orientation would possibly have been stronger.

[walter.sk]

I played with this and while it doesn't look like what it might had you been able to walk a bit to the left, it can give you the idea of how it might have worked as a vertical.

[attachment=15510:P1070615.jpg]

[pegelli]

I played with this and while it doesn't look like what it might had you been able to walk a bit to the left, it can give you the idea of how it might have worked as a vertical.

 I have thought about a slightly different viewpoint to better balance the silhouttes with the rest of the picture. Obviously I wasn't there, but the problem I see is that at this moment the profile of the face nicely shows in front of the raised wings. As soon as you take a step left/right you lose that relationship, which I think might jeopardise the whole shot.