The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive
About This Image
Rambling around the Eastern Sierra, dodging minor rain showers, I spotted a tangled grove of small Aspen near Parker Lake. The trees were twisted, colors bright and made good photos. But I liked what was on the ground better.
Feedback Requested
Well there’s no point of interest but filling the frame with the rain-flattened grasses and Aspen coins seemed like a good idea anyway. In other shots, there is a rickety board crossing a bog choked with leaves. I didn’t cross. Maybe that tells a better story. Another factor here is that many of the leaves have been on the ground a while, and been rained on. Image tells that story, the passing of time in fall, but maybe they’re not so nice to look at.
I like this, James. It has a nice flow to it. The splashes of color of the yellow leaves among the dried leaves is very nice.
If I had one small nit, that would be the curving piece of grass in the lower left corner. The spot healing brush in PS would be easy to use to remove it.
The color overall looks very natural.
Is this the Parker Lake off of the June Lake Loop road? If so, it’s real nice country with many opportunities.
-P
James: Frame filling fantastic IMO. So much detail to savor and I like how the concentration of both the grass and leaves complement each other. Very nicely seen and superbly captured and presented. >=))>
James, this is a great look at the ground! As in most quality abstracts, there’s nothing that grabs your eyes, so they get to roam the entire frame looking at the details. I also like the angled aspect of both the grass and the fallen leaves.
Thanks Mark. Love the weekly challenge. It requires thinking about one’s portfolio, recalling candidates for the theme, evaluating those candidates and prepping them to post. All in all, an excellent exercise for improvement. It also motivates me to re-shoot high-potential areas when I find that the portfolio search underscores what NOT to do, and when NOT to do it, the next time.
A beautiful abstract, James. I really love the rather swirled nature of the way the grasses are matted down and how that guided the layout of the aspen leaves.
First, I admire your ability to “see” like this. The exposure seems spot on . Not that I am recommending this, but wonder what if the yellow is given some more “pop” ?
Thanks very much Karl.
I did try punching up the yellows but felt uncomfortable with the look since most of these leaves were naturally weathered.
Solution: return to this spot at peak fall color after a big wind decorates the grass again!
A very nice pattern composition shot. I find that with such compositions you can change the impression a great deal by changing the distance to the subject. By moving closer and farther you change the size of the leaves and the composition. Here is one such change. As you can see the image is no longer a pattern composition and the old rhythmic sense is gone.
Thanks Igor yes these kinds of shots offer multiple crop and composition opportunities. Plus zooming in much closer reveals a layer of tiny water droplets on the leaves, a detail lost when you go full frame.
