The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Over the weekend Melissa and I decided to explore a canyon we’ve never hiked and that is mostly without trail, which resulted in 6 1/2 difficult miles of endless scrambling, pushing through dense foliage, getting poked by cactus, slipping in mud and one encounter with a small pit of quicksand. Needless to say, I didn’t sink to the bottom slowly and die as depicted in all those childhood movies. Along the way we found incredible beauty within the towering Wingate sandstone walls. We hadn’t made it a mile when I stumbled upon this mindbending scene which took a fair amount of work to compose in a way that worked but I think I succeeded.
Specific Feedback
This is a very unusual image, at least for me. It’s been quite popular on social media but I’d love to hear some honest thoughts on it from the talented folks here at NPN. Good, bad or ugly…let’s hear it.
Technical Details
Sony A7IV
Sony 24-105mm lens @ 39mm
ISO 800 (handheld)
1/40s @ f/22
Lightroom/Photoshop There were lots of little pebbles and twigs in the mud that I found distracting and I used Lightroom’s generative remove to get rid of most of them
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Vision and Purpose:
Conceptual:
Emotional Impact and Mood:
Composition:
Balance and Visual Weight:
Depth and Dimension:
Color:
Lighting:
Processing:
Technical:
I really like this image. It’s right down my alley. I once saw this same subject where only the edge of the chocolate mud area was shot and done so in b&w. They looked like flames moving from left to right. It might have been a Guy Tal image. You might work on that idea next time. There is a sense of movement in this image as well. You got this with very good light as it’s reflected off the mud. The very far right flat brown layer is the weakest part of the image imo but I don’t see any crop that would mitigate it.
Thank you, Igor. I did try to photograph this without any of the shadowed area and couldn’t make it work. There just wasn’t a position I could stand in that allowed me to record the right proportion of mud/reflection so I settled on this.
Hi Bret,
This is a bit of a mind bender and I have to say that I am loving it. I do not do Facebook, etc. so this is all new and shiny to me. The earth tones work really well as does the implied motion from those waves coming in from the left side. I am also enjoying the diagonal placement of the lines in this intimate landscape. Beautifully done and congrats to you and your wife for going the extra mile on your exploration of the canyon.
My first thought as well. I’m glad you got out of your comfort zone photographically (sounds like physically as well), because this is magnificent. Those shrubs poking above the reflected rim are a treat.
I can see the comment that the upper right is the weakest portion, but I’m not bugged by that. It’s essential to let the other two parts be “the most they can be,” and the image wouldn’t be as good without it.
However, I’m curious how many cans of chocolate frosting did you have to haul in your backpack to get that left side?
I really don’t have any nits on this one, it’s an amazing photo as presented. In the spirit of trying to bang around ideas though, here’s a higher contrast version just for grins.
One thing I noticed when I tried working on this is that the shadow of the long brown dagger on the right is of a different tone than the overall large shadow it’s connected to. If this is an abstract I would suggest they be the same.
Bret, this looks great as an abstract as presented. I’m loving the "chocolate swirls on the left. Then you get some texture in the golden wall and finally minimal texture in the darker brown. Well seen and captured.
Yummy. This is such a mind bender. I have looked at this several times and I think I finally figured out what this is. But that’s my favorite part about the image. It’s hard to figure out. Such an abstract image. Those mud tile swirls on the left are so intriguing. They don’t even look real. At first I thought the needle sticking out of the shadow on the right side of the image was distracting but the more I looked at the image, the more I thought it added to the abstract nature of this image.
I think something in between @John_Williams version and yours would be the perfect contrast spot. Buttercream canyon dreams for sure!
