The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I was hiking during the morning blue hour and was struck by this scene, as if I’d gone through some portal to Hogwarts. This was the color I got with daylight white balance and I decided not to touch the color at all.
Specific Feedback
Any criticism would be welcome. I was mainly trying to capture the mood of the moment.
Technical Details
ISO 100, 115mm, f/5.6, 1/50th second. A tripod shot.
I love that color and soft light!! What a nice take on desert harshness. It conveys the coolness of morning. The composition is so nice to highlight the two Sagauro, who seem to have seen better days and fit the rugged environment so well. The soft Mesquite/etc. provide a very nice foil – without it I think the image wouldn’t work as well. Looks like a great spot to hang out and try to catch the wildlife living in this condo.
I agree with @Diane_Miller about the composition and the saguaro/mesquite; that all fits together nicely.
For me this is a true challenge. The two dimensional image we bring home is stripped of so much of what we experienced, and to be able to keep that mood in the image is my quixotic quest. Sometimes it actually helps the image (see @Lon_Overacker’s recent Yosemite image and how the image stripped away the photographers’ convention going on around him), but in this image I’m not sure it is.
If I look at the image without your description of the time of day, my first thought is it has a strong (inappropriate) color cast. I think that’s magnified by the relative lack of dark areas. To feel like the early part of the day prior to sunrise, I would expect there to be a lot more darkness, and it might be worth playing with increasing contrast in the darks to see if that helps the eye interpret this as the blue hour.
John, thanks for your comments. After I read them I tried darkening the shadows. The result was a more realistic portrayal of the scene. But I was after something dreamier, for lack of a better term, which took me in the other direction. This is closer to what my mind’s eye saw at the time.
The comment from @John_Williams, and the image by @Lon_Overacker that he referenced, made me think about why I like this image so much. I tend to just like or dislike something on instinct without being good at putting it into words. I agree this could be a more conventional image (and still be a very nice one) with different lighting, maybe just with a first hint of directional light but no direct light rays. But what I like here is the very different take on a rugged scene – the soft light and cool colors give it an unusual and unexpected flatness that I find very interesting and pleasing – it makes a wonderful surprise. The IQ is excellent so I can enjoy the detail in the cacti, and the subtle rim light on the tips separates them from the BG. The air is clear and the DOF enough that there is pleasing detail in the hills. There is a nice patch of brightness in the mid-ground that adds some depth – and mirrors the rim light on the tops. The colors are an unexpected delight, with the cacti being just a little more green than the ground and vegetation.
One small thing that pulls my eye is the dark detail right at the base of the near cactus. I wonder if it could be lightened (especially on the right side) to blend in with the grasses. The left edge is good – it’s the right edge and center that might be worked on. Small thing but I think it’s a very strong image and worth the tweak.
