Clogau Gold

I took this image a few weeks ago on a non-photography day (they are rare) while making a winter ascent of Crib Goch. I loved the layers and the gold colouring of the scene. I called it Clogau Gold after the gold that was hostorically mined in the region and was used to make the Crown Jewels. The day before there had been talk of a mining company starting to explore for this gold again.

I am happy for any cc as usual but more on how this works as an image? I guess it’s very personal but I have had a very mixed reception to this shot, but no one can quite put their finger on why they like it or not. NPN’s turn :laughing: Critique on the composition, effect, visual appeal, etc all welcome. Processing too if you notice anything

Single shot with at 177mm, f/11 and 1/500s handheld. I’ve also cropped in a bit (long story)


@eugene_theron_photography

I do love the interaction between the clouds and mountains. And I enjoy the simple color palette in this image, Eugene. The golden color you got this day really fits with the interesting history you tell about the area as well.

I think for me, the mountains don’t take up enough space. It’s almost like they’re dropping off the bottom of the photo. I know it can be hard to crop severely if you’re limited on megapixels. I’d consider removing much of the sky because the cloud detail at the top seems disconnected from the mountains, not adding much to the subject. I hope it’s okay, but I’ve cropped some to illustrate.

Thanks for sharing!

Eugene, I love the concept of the image, and the golden color achieved in your processing. Reading the mining backstory was interesting too. I think your processing is right on the money here (no pun intended).

In terms of composition, I agree with @Adam_Bolyard that I would like to see a bit more of the mountain. I’m not sure I would crop the image to achieve that because I like having the yellow cloud stripe along the top edge of the frame. I think it helps to balance the composition. I did a rework, where I added canvas at the bottom, and used Content Aware Fill to add more mountain. You may or may not be comfortable doing that, but it illustrates what it would look like with more mountain. But overall this is a really good image, nice work.

@Ed_McGuirk
I like your rework a lot. The balance of the image does work well.

@Adam_Bolyard @Ed_McGuirk Thanks to you both. I must say I agree with both of you re the space at the bottom of the image. It feels like the image breathes a bit more with the additional mountain at the bottom.

I have already cropped into this image a bit so am going to have a go at expanding the mountain at the end. I have a few options on how to do it

@Adam_Bolyard @Ed_McGuirk Hello again. I’ve done some ‘fudging’ and expanded the base of the image a bit. It’s brought some extra life to it.

Thanks for the feedback and advice

The rework looks good to me Eugene. The extra bit of mountain makes the whole image feel more balanced, and I also think it shows off the fog/clouds better by having more dark mountain beneath it. Nice job on the rework.

yeah for sure. I think it has a better feel to it. Thanks again for the input!