Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
I can’t remember right now which lake this was, I believe in New Brunswick. The colors were gorgeous, and it had a really interesting rock sculpture too.
I decided to try a B&W on this too.
Canon 5DMiii, iso100, f5.6, 1/160 sec, 24-105 lens at 67 mm. Square crop to remove partial stone on right and too bright sky above.
You’ve captured a beautiful image here Ed. I prefer the color myself, but the B&W is interesting too. This is a study of shapes; there are many triangles in the photo, and they all fit nicely together as if in a jigsaw puzzle. The rock by itself is interesting; I see an old, gnarled tree growing out of the water with some colorful foliage displayed. I could wish for some more space on the bottom to give the reflection a bit more room.
Wonderful image, Ed! I think @Jim_Lockhart’s jigsaw puzzle analogy is spot on. Everything in the image is positioned perfectly. Both versions are very nice, but I think I prefer the color one. I think the color helps distinguish all the separate shapes in the image, particularly in the reflection in the lower right corner. I think the square crop works very well for this image.
Well, I’m going to cast a vote for B&W. To me it helps the form and textures of the rock stand out; it also strengthens the triangle that Jim perceptively noted. I like the range of tones, and the placement of the central detail of the rock and its reflection at the water line. Nice!
I’m landing on the side for the color image. But then I’m a sucker for autumn colors 
Ed, I love black and white, but you can’t lose those autumn colors! Lovely image! 
Ed, I love the colors of course, but to me, this shot is all about The Rock. And, man, does The Rock ever rock! What you’ve discovered here is a little gem, a la the late, great Jerry N. Uelsmann. The closer I zoom in on the rock, the more commanding it becomes. And get a load of that ‘tree’ in it – when I zoom real close, so the rock and its reflection fill the image, then the ‘tree’ seems to morph into a beautiful wood nymph!
If this photo was mine, I think I’d be tempted to crop out the background above (beyond) the rock, and pretty much fill the frame with both it and its reflection. As Jim Lockhart noted, I might like to include a bit more space on the bottom, to give full play to the rock’s reflection.
And while I was at it, I think I’d go with monochrome for it – although I might be pretty tempted to leaf the colors of the greenery growing in it, and maybe even bring up their saturation a bit.
And one more (ahem…) reflection on the shot: I also noticed that if I rotate it 90 degrees to the right (or tilt my head to the left), all of a sudden your rock becomes a gigantic bicuspid tooth with that wood nymph stuck on it! Gimme a toothpick!
Wonderful photo, Ed! I hope I haven’t done your work an injustice. It just grabbed me and shook me around in its teeth (sing.?) and gave me a gigantic smile! 
Thanks for sharing this with us! I vote Most Fun Photo of the Day!
(Side note: If you aren’t familiar with Jerry Uelsmann’s work, definitely check him out – I fell in love with his Yosemite work when it was my home. I think you’ll see that your piece might be akin to his: it’s nature imitating art imitating nature.)
I prefer the color image. You have zeroed into the rock as subject well by keeping the background out of focus - good use of DOF. I would add more space at the bottom of the image to let the rock breathe more at the bottom. Nice image.
Wow! I go away for a day and all of a sudden there are a bunch of comments. Thank you everyone @Jim_Lockhart, @John_Kilgour, @Mary_Brisson, @Denise_Dethlefsen, @Saundie, and @Larry_Greenbaum so much. I will see if I can stretch some more out of the bottom of one of the shots I took here, as it sounds like there is a vote for more reflection on the bottom. Color seems to be the overall preference, with some approval of the BW too. I love that this has tickled some imaginations here.
@Michael_Thornton You are a kick and a half. Thank you for having an amazing imagination and for the thought and commentary you have put into this. Thank you for introducing me to Jerry N. Uelsmann. His work is fascinating. I also like the idea of leaving some of the bright colors in the BW image for this that I will play around with someday. Thank you a bunch.
