This is my first attempt of doing ICM. I had a vision in mind with the aspens and I think this came close to what I was wanting.
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These are great! They look like paintings. Nice work!
Good morning Terry. These are some wonderful painterly images of aspens that have visual impact. Both images have a nice vertical motion. The first appears to have to partial circular pattern from the center to the top of the frame which is interesting. I think it goes well with the vertical lines of the aspen trunks. Awesome work trying out ICM techniques on these scenes.
My recommendation for both images would be to watch your edges especially on the left and right sides of the frame. I see some tree trunks that are partially cut off so perhaps a slight crop in would help fix that issue or you can darken those areas.
Terry,
Welcome aboard - both to NPN and the world of ICM! And thank you for your understanding about the image post. Don’t worry, navigating NPN takes a little getting used to, but you’re on your way!
Thesse images are a great start and trees, especially aspens with brightly colored/lit leaves, are awesome sujects. And what is nice about ICM is that you can play around at times when you might not even normally consider taking just a regular photo.
IMO, there are two extremes to the ICM technique - the first one is, creating an image that looks more like the tripod was kicked, or an accident, but not having enough motion. OR, the second where too much time and movement result in just a blur colors that make no sense at all. The good news is, there are many, many, many possibilities in between. And I think your first attempts fit nicely inbetween those extremes. There is just enough movement here to make it clear you wanted the motion blur and you chose a vertical motion.
I would echo Alfredo’s comments about the edges. Even more generally, we should all watch our edges for any kind of photograph. I call it “border patrol.” As it relates to your two images, the first one has a small distraction on the left and a very bright trunk on the right. And the second image, just a small sliver on the left edge. And another great thing with the ICM is that you have this complete freedom of what you want to present; you’re not bound by the dimensions of you sensor or any common size or ratio. And to that, I’ve been personally finding and attracted to the square crop - which is an option for you here. Not necessarily to improve, but just to give you options to find patterns, colors and light that give you the most impact.
I think your first image is an example. I see at least two square crops - the left half and the right half (minus the bright trunks onthe edges). And the second image, not necessarily square, but even just some slight cropping left and right.
These are just opinions and suggestions. I’m sure you’ll be experimenting more. YOu’re off to a great start! Looking forward to more and your participation in the comments and critiques.
Welcome!
Lon
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Lovely first try at ICM. This has a lot of energy. I agree with Alfredo and Lon on the edges, especially the right edge with that bright tree touching the edge. There are multiple cropping options here, for sure.
Thank you