Yesterday I was just leaving a good birding area in Korea, and, for my final shots, I climbed the small embankment of a reservoir. A calm golden-lit evening was producing warm reflections of the autumn reeds. I liked how these reflections calmed the chaos with their symmetry. Later I decided to add a further calm to the chaos, as shown in the second shot above.
Specific Feedback Requested
Apart from any welcome technical comments, which of the two do you prefer?
Technical Details
D500 + 150-600mm (@600mm) 1/800 f8 ISO 2500
Cropped a large pano for the best bits. Basic PS treatment and Topaz Sharpen - which dealt quite well with the softness caused by f8. Then added Vibrance and Saturation. For no 2, flipped and merged, trying different combinations and settling on this one.
Hi Mike, what a great subject in awesome light! The lines of the reeds really draw me in. I do prefer the more natural state of Image 1. I would recommend cloning out the reeds in the upper right and lower left corners. There is also a reed laying flat right along the bottom edge just left of center.
I prefer the 1st one. Iâve personally never been a fan of the images where you just make a mirror out of it mostly because its so obvious⌠thatâs me. The first one forces you to look and question things much more deeply. Nice find, I really like the scene!
Eye-catching photo. I love the glowing golden reeds and the lovely lines they create. I prefer the first image and agree with Alfredo about the cloning.
Nicely seen, Mike. I also prefer the first image. There is so much to see and enjoy with it, duplicating it just seem more confusing, for me. I feel somewhat distracted in the 2nd photo.
Fantastic image, great spacing in the reeds. I quite like the pattern more to the center of the mirrored image. I think that gets lost in the bigger version. Just a thought. Quick screenshot to illustrate the crop. Nice work!
IMO, the first image is the calmer of the two. Though it might be considered a bit busy, it is pleasantly soâŚfor me. The second one hovers right on the edge of âvisual chaosâ for me.
Otherwise, itâs a terrific shot. Love your processing truly lets the reeds take center stageâŚas they should in this one.
Mike, I too prefer the first view, as it emphasizes the glow in the foreground reeds and their reflections. I canât put my finger on it, but for some reason version 2 doesnât feel like it has as much contrast and âpopâ. The second version where youâve mirrored the view horizontally makes the âcreatureâ in the lower center very interesting, but it doesnât âpopâ like V1. I do think youâve done a great job of turning chaos in beauty.
I like both images but prefer the 2nd one. It presents a more ordered view, with interesting visual symmetry and more shape definition. To me, it is both more interesting and tells a more interesting story than the first one.
Very interesting images. Like most posters I prefer the first one. The second is a bit too much chaos and too little calm for me.
Cropped to just a little more pano, there is no need to clone out anything anymore in the 1st image
I like the changes @J_Fritz_Rumpf did to the first image. Which one is better? Each is good in itâs own way. One is a tapestry and the other is a collection of geometric shapes.
Thank you for looking and commenting @linda_mellor@rjWilner@Igor_Doncov@Mark_Seaver@Chris_Baird@Alfredo_Mora@jimdolan@HanSchutten@J_Fritz_Rumpf@MattPayne. I still think the 2nd image is more calming, and am with James Dolan in his comments on the symmetry there. However, I do prefer Fritz Rumpfâs isolation of the centre - as he shows in his crop - to the original mirror image. Matt, I agree itâs a bit obvious to make a mirror image - just experimenting, and I too found the natural original more interesting, though less calming. Guess that symmetry calms me, like the chorus in a song! Iâve excised the distracting bits of reed as Alfredo suggests.
I love the abstract and chaotic nature of this one. Then randomness of the reeds in shapes, lines, angles, etc. are brought in to some kind of order by the calmness of the water. The blue/gold combo is very effective here.
I like the novelty of the mirrored pano and I think this was an excellent candidate for the technique and presentation. For some reason though, at least to me, the color/sat/contrast has been diminished - OR, maybe itâs that the original was a bit too saturated? Of course all within personal choice and preference.
I prefer the original, but think the mirrored image works and is pretty cool. My only suggestion there would be to shave a little off the bottom to remove the short horizontal links merging with the edge near center. Minor.
