The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Just wondering if this photograph has any appeal. I have waffled on this one for a very long time. I recently reprocessed the scan and I think I like it better than what I first did, but it has always left me wondering if there was anything there. Its on the south end of Pebble Beach State Beach, between Pescadero Beach and Bean Hollow Beach. It was taken post sunset, so I am working with sky glow for the lighting, the Belt of Venus and the Earth Shadow are starting to show on the horizon. I was drawn to the anomalous round hole in the Tafoni sandstone and the eerie moss growing in it and around it. Gave me the sense of an alien world, hence the title.
Specific Feedback
Shen-Hao 4x5, Nikon 150mm f/5.6 lens, f32, 1 sec, Fuji Provia 100F, Scanned on Microtek M1, processed in PS.
Technical Details
Does the photo have any appeal? Does it hold interest? Any suggestions on other processing steps or would a crop help in anyway?
Youssef, I love this image! The composition, with the green moss flowing through the area in a curve, with the ring emphasizing the (what I think is) circular indentation with water, is so striking. It pulls me through the image and back to the front where the green grass gently supports it. The lighting is lovely, just enough to provide contrast so one may see the rock details. Lovely and fascinating image!
I like this image a lot, Youssef. It has the feel of the primeval earth when all the life was still in the ocean and the algae was just starting to colonize the tidal areas. I also like the way the lighting works in this with the bit of glow from the sky.
Youssef, this is a very inviting view. I like how the greens wind into the distance leading to the pastel sky. The waves breaking on the rocks in the distance contrast very well with the peaceful sense of the moss and sky. This looks good as presented.
Youssef, i’ve familiar with the area but have never seen it look so amazingly colorful. Well done. The late in the day time brings out the pink sky which balances the greens in the foreground - i like this as it’s so otherworldly. I do think the image could use a bit more light as it’s a little hard to see details but that could be the early evening dusk or my eyes. Thank you Youssef.
I can relate to this statement. I don’t know if this means it’s marginally good or what. I think it means that whatever is good about it is not obvious. Some images just take more time. But I’ve had some obviously good images that I grew tired of quickly. Actually I don’t even know what ‘good’ even means.
One thing that’s obviously good here is the composition. If I put a frame around it it becomes very apparent. I lived in Half Moon Bay for 3 decades and know this scene really well. Those rocks can be very slippery. It’s very typical of our coast. Some of the dark areas have very little information. Maybe add some mini contrast to them. There is also an area just to the right of the tide pool that’s a bit blurry however I think that may be because the weeds are partially submerged.
Overall I think the hesitancy comes because it’s not a typical calendar shot. You’ve paid attention to something many would not.
It certainly appeals to me. Initially, the dichotomy of th neon algae and the pastel sky takes a few seconds to get used to, but that probably lends to the alien landscape feel.
Definitely a keeper, Youssef. If it were mine, I would be uneasy about the color palette. The colors are natural, and I feel like the scene is rendered realistically, but from a design perspective, the chartreuse moss and lavender and pink sky kind of clash.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and it is what makes the whole scene feel eerie. Despite that fact that it works, it is likely part of what keeps you undecided
I too would be inclined to crop a bit off the bottom. in addition, probably just me, but I see a caricature of Richard Nixon in the foreground, left half. Now that I have seen that, I can’t unsee a face there.
That center section with the “eye” and flowing green algae is very appealing for me. I think the background bit of ocean and the pastel sky are a great backdrop too.
My only suggestion is to drop the saturation in the darkest parts of the image.
Thank you @John_Williams, @Michael_Lowe, @Marylynne_Diggs, @Susanna_Euston, @Igor_Doncov, and @Dennis_Plank for your feedback. I have always been peevish when it came to cropping a phot I made on film, especially on a 4x5, because of the time and effort that went into composing. But the idea to somehow limit the dark water in the FG made me think and here is a version where I cropped it out. While it does tighten the overall composition, I do think it made it a bit stronger as well. I have added the crop up above to compare it with the original. The crop also seems to have made an apparent perspective change, which is odd. The original has a more looking down feel than the vertical cropped version. I also considered a crop that rendered the photo as a horizontal composition that brought the “eye” even closer to the viewer, which was the feature that drew me to to make the photo in the first place. Is the crop better, and if so which one?
I like both cropped versions. You mentioned that it seems to change the perspective from being downward to being more outward. I think that’s typical of wide angle shots when they are cropped a bit. Full-frame, they expand what is near. Sometimes that’s exactly what you want, but here, I think I like that middle area being closer (and that caricature face disappearing).
