The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
You’re probably getting tired of photos of Mt. Jefferson; good news, only three more after this one.
This was the first morning after we arrived, and I had photographed sunrise from the north shore of Russell Lake. (I’ll post that image next.) Heading back to camp (if you look close, you can just see the green of @Steve_Kennedy’s tent, above the low trees and between the tall trees on the left), the sun was just beginning to pour its first rays onto the west edge of the lake. It was stunning; the image doesn’t do it justice.
Specific Feedback
I played with the perspective to straighten the trees, but wasn’t willing to lose the parts of the image I would have had to crop to do so. I suppose I could have Puppet Warped them straight, but for some reason they don’t bug me much these days; I guess I just figure they are part of physics and wide-angles. Do the leaning trees bug you?
I prefer shorter aspect ratios for verticals, but again didn’t want to crop much. Does the 2x3 work okay?
Any thoughts and comments appreciated; it’s usually the insights into things I haven’t thought to ask that are the most helpful!
Technical Details
NIKON Z 7II
NIKKOR Z 14-30 f/4S at 19.0 mm
1/60 sec. at f/6.3 and ISO 64
Eight images blended for DOF
You must consider your trip to Jefferson a great success. All of the ones you’ve posted are really good. I like how you positioned yourself so that the mountain reflection is between the rocks and the red leaves fit nicely in the foreground to give the fg relevance. The light, of course, is perfect and, as you state, there is no wind to mar the reflection. Very nice indeed. The timing of the image is perfect. I really have no suggestions on how to improve this. The leaning trees were more of an issue in the previous image than here. I didn’t even pay attention.
This is framed up really nicely, John. The leaning trees don’t bother me at all and for the most part, never have unless it’s a fisheye type of distortion. The reflection is frames beautifully between the rocks in the water with all of the elements cleverly meandering around said rocks. Good use of foreground color and texture with the rock boulders and fall color leaves. I generally don’t like 3x2 aspect ratios but this is so nicely framed that I don’t notice it that much. My eye gets pulled a little bit outside the left side of the frame because there is bright light there and my mind just wants to know what’s over there. Let’s call it more of a curiosity and there is nothing to stop my eye from leaving the frame there. That is the only nit pick I can give you on this image, John. Another beauty for sure.
Hi John! This is a beautiful image. I have one taken at the same time, but I was a several feet to the right and wasn’t able to the full reflection. Your image is very well composed (as your images always are ). The leaning trees don’t bother me, in fact they sort of mimic the shape of the mountain. My only nit about the trees is they are not leaning in the reflection.
I played with dropping that a tad and posted an update above. I like that suggestion and believe it improves the image. (Maybe I should have dropped that brightness even more?)
Agreed. What I needed was a bit more of the red leaves at the bottom so I had room to fix the perspective at the top, but as you know there just wasn’t a lot still hanging on. Maybe next year…
The Gift that keeps on giving… What else is there to say. I think maybe the trip you guys made should now be elevated to “epic”?
Not much to add other than to say this is gorgeous. I think your subtle edit is an improvement as well. Leaning trees don’t bother me. Th composition is outstanding with the beautifully lit shore leading the eye thru the frame.
What a beautiful shot John! I also typically prefer a “squarer” crop for my vertical images but sometimes the 3:2 ratio just fits better – like it does here for example. The trees are a bit wonky but I don’t think that that is necessarily a deal breaker. All in all though I think you did a fantastic job on this and I like it very much.
). The leaning trees don’t bother me, in fact they sort of mimic the shape of the mountain. My only nit about the trees is they are not leaning in the reflection.