The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Noss Head, Caithness, Scotland
Brilliant orange lichen encrusts the cliff top viewpoint at Noss Head. I positioned myself close to the edge to provide a colourful rim to frame the scenic cliffs looking toward the distant lighthouse on this dramatic stretch of coast close to Wick in Caithness.
Technical Details
FujiFilm GFX 50S , Fuji GF 32-64mm zoom, 3 shot stitched panoramic, f/16 at 1/8 second, ISO 100, 0.6ND soft grad, polariser backed off 50%.
Lovely image Ian. One that I think works best when viewed on a large screen. I love that orange lichen and how it provides bright contrast to the dark water and rocks. That rock in the water complements the panoramic semi-circular form of the cliff very nicely.
I think your choice for the portion of the sky in the image - while seems unorthodox - works fine here. Maybe a tad more would work too, but I don’t feel it’s missing.
I love how your composition leads the eye along the curved form of the cliff, through the cliffs to the right, that tall cliff opposite your position and to the lighthouse - and then back into the bright part in the water and that huge rock / small island. Sort of a spiral path, and the round ripples in the middle strengthen that.
If I may suggest, I think cropping a bit from the right may enhance that spiral form.
(Posted mid-way by mistake, that’s the reason for the deleted critique)
Superb scene and the aspect ratio was right for this composition. The orange is very strong at the bottom and that does draw the eye to the lower section.
Wow, I feel as if I’m standing right there on the cliff edge. Lovely framing of the rock in the bay. I’m with Igor on the strong orange of the lichen. It’s a very cool color, but does tend to keep my eye there vs. wandering around the scene.
Thank you Tom. I think I agree with your slight crop from the right edge the elimination of the rising ground on the escarpment where the lighthouse is on the extreme right edge, doesn’t compromise any pertinent cliff details and does tend to reinforce the spiral nature of the composition, on the whole thats a win win improvement that seems worthwhile.
Ian, This is a most appealing grand landscape. To add to the comments, there is a lot of water here, and the lighter water in the mid ground draws my eye to it. I tinkered with burning that in in PS and in haste did a somewhat sloppy job, but it gets the idea across. Of course, leaving the image as is may be best if your vision is for the lighter water. Lovely, image.
Thank you Larry I think the subtle reduction of the light reflected in the water that you made does indeed improve it. Originally I considered doing the same as yourself but rejected it for the reason that some of the other folk mention, namely that the vivid orange lichen which incidentally I love, pulls the eye to the base of the image so I figured the brighter sea would help the eye follow the spiral from extreme left around the cliffs to the lighthouse ending at the brightest area of sea would redress that, now in retrospect I believe I was guilty of over thinking it. The slightly subdued light on the sea is better.
