Blackwater Canyon Walls

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
1

_DSC2949 copy.jpg
_DSC2949 copy.jpg2000Ɨ1626 1.02 MB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

This is from a recent trip in late October that my brother and I made to Blackwater Falls SP, WV. It is only a four hour drive so we always try to time the trip to a rain event as to provide some atmospherics to our photography. The colors were just around peak and lush and vibrant from the rain. Great shooting conditions! Anyway this image is from Pendelton Point looking out over Blackwater Canyon. I was attracted to the intersecting diagonals of the walls as I liked the visual tension; that and the wonderful colors of autumn.

Specific Feedback

I would appreciate your thoughts on the saturation of the fall colors as I have been going back and forth. What do you think; enough, to much, not enough?

Technical Details

Nikon Z7, Nikon 24-200 @ 200mm, f 11 @ 1/30 sec, ISO 400, CPL, cable release & tripod.

1 Like
2

This all looks great to me. Colors are good. Perhaps a slight CCW rotation?

1 Like
3

You have beautiful fall colors here, and I think they look realistic for the vibrant fall we had. Definitely not overdone in my opinion. I feel like Iā€™m pretty conservative about pushing color. I really like how the fog gave you separation between the trees, so itā€™s not just an undefined mass of texture. I regret I never made it out this fall, which may have been one of the best for color that I have seen locally. I do also like your diagonals.

1 Like
4

Ed, the saturation seems just right. There is enough to make the play of color exciting. Any more would look overdone, and less would flatten out the overall look. I try to always do border patrol on my pictures. I am going to nitpicking at this point. The little bit of bright red foliage at the bottom left looks ā€œlost.ā€ I might also burn just a bit of the bright foliage along the margins of the lower right corner.

The solid diagonal lines of the mountains are well-positioned in the frame. The three triangular shapes play off each other. The rocky cliff and the evergreen trees add interest to the sceneā€™s story. This should be hanging on your wall.

1 Like
5

Thanks for your thoughtful comments and suggestions @Ronald_Murphy, @karlag and @Barbara_Djordjevic as it is always appreciated. I am glad everyone is good with the saturation.
@Ronald_Murphy : I will be sure to check that out.
@karlag : Sorry that you did not make it out for some fall images.
@Barbara_Djordjevic : Thanks for pointing that bit of red towards the LLC. I somehow missed that. I will be sure to remove it as well as a touch of darkening on those yellow leaves in the LRC.

1 Like
6

Hi Ed. First itā€™s a very nice image with lovely mood. I think the saturation of color is just fine, as many said you donā€™t want to over do things with reds and yellows especially or they block up and you lose fine details. I wonder if the image isnā€™t a little to ā€˜flatā€™ in terms of brightness. The fog looks a bit gray. Possible a bit of a curve could help? Of course we are all looking at this on different monitorsā€¦

1 Like
7

Thanks for taking a moment and leaving your thoughts on the brightness @brenda_tharp. I will play around will curves and see what I come up with.

8

Very nice Ed. Classic. I think the saturation is just fine.