Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.
Questions to guide your feedback
I have a two-part question on this one. First, what are you feeling viewing it? Second, would it look better in the Recycle Bin?
Other Information
Please leave your feedback before viewing the blurred information below, once you have replied, click to reveal the text and see if your assessment aligns with the photographer. Remember, this if for their benefit to learn what your unbiased reaction is.
Image Description
A friend and I were snowshoeing on an overcast day with flat as a pancake lighting, and these two treetops poking above the snow made me think of the isolation that winter can bring. I’ve tried to capture that in the image, but would love your thoughts and suggestions.
Technical Details
NIKON Z 7II
NIKKOR Z 14-30 f/4S at 30.0 mm
1/1000 sec. at f/9.0 and ISO 800
Handheld
Specific Feedback
On multiple occasions I have read pundits stress the importance of developing a cohesive body of work. I suppose that’s likely true, but sometimes I enjoy striving for something that is a bit different than what I might normally focus on.
The challenge, though, is that in doing so (for me) it can be harder to self-critique. Any thoughts on what you might suggest different, either with this image or in the future, are much appreciated. Feel free to sling mud.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Oh no – this one belongs right here!!! It’s a wonderful find! Snowy winter days are not my usual habitat but I’m very much enjoying the minimalism here, but I wonder if it would spoil the mood if more detail was pulled out of the snow? Maybe even a subtle gradient burn at the bottom or all around? But that’s just my own perspective of always looking for more detail.
From your title, I get the sense of a bit of tension between the trees. They’re out there by themselves, stranded on a desert island so to speak, and they don’t like each other. That feeling contrasts with your perfectly centered composition. Interesting.
(reading your comment…) Yes, you captured that sense of isolation.
@John_Williams, this is a beautiful image in so many ways! I love the minimalism. The simplicity. And, to me, the trees look like two pals strolling through the snow. The gentle emphasis on the variations in the snow looks perfect to me. I see it in the foreground. Creating a gradient burn at the bottom might remove attention from the gentleness of the show leading to the trees.
You captured the scene perfectly. I wouldn’t dream of slinging mud!
Recycle bin? Are you insane! This is a great photo. What do I feel when looking at it? A sense of loneliness, but not of sadness since the trees are there for each other. I love the minimal elements and the very subtle detail in the foreground snow.
I agree with @Youssef_Ismail that it definitely does not belong in the bin. It is a fine image with metaphorical potential. I wonder, however, if it would be possible to increase the sense of depth without ruining the image? The snow in the foreground is almost featureless; the only overlap between the two trees and something behind them is the horizon, leaving little sense of depth; the sky is almost without details. To me, these things makes the image almost two-dimensional. I wonder how it would turn out if masks were deployed to enhance the texture and slight features of the snow in the foreground? Similarly, it seems as if there are faint clouds in the top of the frame; would it be fruitful to enhance them? It is a fine image, so thanks for posting it.
John, this is very intriguing. The strong minimalism jumps out at you. Having a nearly featureless foreground (snow) and a very featureless sky (distant mountain??) works very well. I suspect that you spent some time at this location, I could see zooming in and moving the trees in the frame to explore alternatives. My suggest for a possible improvement would be to darken slightly the grey line that you’re using for the framing. I love how subtle the textures in the snow are!
I really appreciate the feedback, since as I noted this is not a typical image I have taken in the past.
I will play with increasing the texture in the foreground. Interestingly, NPN only shows about half of the texture that the original contains. It is still subtle in the original, but not near as stark as here. (Maybe it has something to do with compression??)
Interesting thought on compression. I see it is 134 KB, and the size limit here is much larger – 2 GB if I remember. I don’t know if it would help but you could try a higher quality JPEG and still keep the same pixel dimensions.
