The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I took this photo last year at about this time. It was later in the day and the sun was casting the shadows of the trees over this frozen section of the C and O canal. The patterns were interesting, and I felt suited to monochrome
Specific Feedback
Are the patterns on the ice interesting enough to carry the image? I guess I could have gone really abstract and excluded the trees on the side of the image and the sky, only including the ice and shadows, but when I looked at crops like that it just didn’t work for me
Technical Details
Sony A7riv with a Tamron 50-400 lens at 80 mm. Conversion to monochrome in Lightroom and some basic tonal adjustments
Critique Template
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I think the patterns add quite a bit to the photo. Creates some mystery as you have to really look at it to figure out what it is. I’m partial to high contrast issues and would add more contrast in the shadows, but that may not fit your vision. I like the photo.
Will, this works very well (and looks familiar… ) with the horizontal striping of the shadows against the trees and rocks on the far bank. The bit of darkness along the top edge and the falloff in the sky suggests that you were using a polarizer. I’d darkening the blue channel to get more contrast in the sky. I wouldn’t increase the contrast on the ice or in the land, where you’ve already got a few nearly pure blacks.
@Mark_Seaver
Thanks for your comment. The weird darkness variations in the sky weren’t from a polarizer, but rather some odd processing artifact that I somehow missed.
That’s one of the valuable things about NPN. Sometimes you stare at your image so long you become blind to issues in it, that, in retrospect, are obvious. I’ve uploaded a revised version with a more uniform sky.
-Will
P.S. And yes, the location is, of course, Widewater on the C and O
Love the shadows Will! I agree with the decision to leave the trees, they give a nice frame of reference and a leading line through the image.
The revision is an improvement, and I could see even knocking the sky haloing down a tad more. Playing with this, I think brightening the image overall is an option to consider, and could see cropping out that lower right corner with the shadow that angles different from the others. Anyway, just ideas to play with; this is very nice as is.
I think including the trees was a good call. I’m not sure the ice patterns as an abstract without the trees would be as interesting. Not seeing the color version I can’t tell you if this scene would work better in color or black and white but I do very much like the black and white treatment. I might be inclined to add a little bit of contrast to the frozen canal water to make it pop just a little bit more and I would crop off the bottom of the image to remove the curve in the lower right corner that stands out to me. The polarizer is very noticeable in the original and I do prefer the newer version with the sky evened out a bit more. I’m just doing a scroll crop and quite like a pano version with about 40 of the bottom ice cropped off however this may not be to your liking. Just mentioning it since I accidentally noticed it while scrolling down.
Hi Will,
I am loving the shadows as they spread out across the ice and I do not think they would have the same impact without the trees. Your revision with the sky pretty much nailed it for my tastes. My only suggestion would be a little crop from the bottom to get rid of that one shadow that angles upward. Very nicely done!
The Shadows is what caught my eye on your image. You could go a little darker in my opinion. B&W serves your vision and I really like this image. Works really nice and a great vibe to it. !!!
Will, a beautiful shot well suited to B&W. Even without the shadows it would be a nice scene, with the frozen river gradually curving into the background and the rocky, tree-lined bank, but the shadows add a sense of nightfall coming. The river appears to be tidal with the high water marks visible on the rocks. Nicely seen and recorded!
) with the horizontal striping of the shadows against the trees and rocks on the far bank. The bit of darkness along the top edge and the falloff in the sky suggests that you were using a polarizer. I’d darkening the blue channel to get more contrast in the sky. I wouldn’t increase the contrast on the ice or in the land, where you’ve already got a few nearly pure blacks.