The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I love photographing flowing water, especially in spring at Big Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park! I’m there often during the blooming cycles of the dogwood and other wildflowers. In this image, the dogwood was just slightly past, with flowers and leaves juxtaposed against the flowing water. It was a slightly breezy day, so there is some movement in the leaves at the top. But that isn’t an issue for me. It’s nature, after all!
Specific Feedback
I’m open to your thoughts about this image!
Technical Details
Canon EOS RP (with bandpass filter); ISO 400, f/22, .5 seconds
I love this composition!
I must admit though (at least for me), it took my poor old brain a second or two to realize what was happening but after that I was quite pleased with the overall visual flow.
The texture in the FG section of water is amazing, the .5sec. SS was perfect for that!
The dogwoods being highlit the way they are adds a lot to the scene and the visual flow of those fit very well with the visual flow of the water from the bottom to the top.
I agree that the small amount of ghosting of the dogwood leaves and limbs is a minor thing. that doesn’t bother me at all.
The choice to go B&W was great for the shapes and highlights.
The only suggestion I have is to maybe clone out some of the cut in half leaves on the top and left borders, IMHO it would give it a cleaner look but it’s still a winner as presented.
Merv, thanks so much for your feedback! I will definitely clone out some of the half leaves on the top and left. I hadn’t thought of that! Appreciate your appraisal of the B&W processing. I’ve basically shot (and think in) B&W my entire life (which is longer than I want to admit!), and made the transition from film to digital about 20 years ago. It’s an ongoing process of refinement.
Hi Susanna. This is the first time I am looking at your work and I am impressed! I could stare at the water in the bottom right forever I like the composition and how the branches are reaching into the picture from left and right. And this photograph was so asking to be monochrome, I am glad you listened. The one thing I would have tried would be cropping roughly the top third. I think the bank in the background is a bit distracting and this way the ghosting of the leaves wouldn’t be an issue anymore. But that’s just me. Thanks for sharing.
What a wonderful scene, Susanna! Your black and white treatment is nicely processed and shutter speed has created wonderfully textured water without smoothing it out too much. Composition is good, but I wonder if a smaller aperture that rendered the dogwoods sharp and the background OOF might have helped to emphasize the dogwoods? Also, and this may not have been possible, but it would have been very cool if the dogwood blooms on the top branch could have been placed entirely against the black water behind, which would have really made them pop. Nonetheless, this is a beautiful image. Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi Brett, thanks so much for your input! I love your ideas for this image. I shot this at f/22, so the aperture would have produced sharper leaves and flowers if the breeze that day wasn’t a problem. I stood and waited for it to slow or stop, which was iffy. To get the water texture as I wanted it, I used a slow shutter speed. So, yes, the leaves and flowers suffered. The bank in the back is actually darker in my print. I think that I posted the wrong image, one that was in transition. So, that’s the story of this image. I’ll try again next spring!
This is a lovely image Suzanna, there is a lot to like about it. I think it conveys a sense of wild, delicate beauty. The image works well with the portrait aspect ratio, my only thought is would the image work with a bit more space on the left of the frame, say perhaps a 4:3 or 4:5 aspect ratio? Just a thought and not necessarily something that the image absolutely needs. The whitewater and dark water balance nicely with a great sense of flowing movement. The dogwood fills the frame and gives the image its delicate balance overall. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Charles! Thanks. I appreciate your feedback. I’m pretty sure that I didn’t do any cropping on this (I don’t 99% of the time), but I’ll check. I think I was using my 70-200mm lens and the framing might have been due to maxing out the wider view from my perch.
Another gorgeous b&w interpretation of a beautiful spring scene. Very easy to want to see and process the color version, but in the likes of all the b&w greats, this is most appropriate (and successful!)
I’m one who will wait for stillness, but totally get we can’t wait forever and conditions won’t stay put long enough, so I get it. I thought in your latest image I just commented on that the blurred leaves were integral to the overall mood and atmosphere. Here, I think less so as it’s really more about the juxstaposition or overlay of the flowering tree and blossoms over the silky cascades. Together a beautiful presentation.
So the blurred or ghosted branches/leaves over the water don’t bother me either. The exception being the very blurry leaves over the far bank towards the top. they actually pull my eye away from the central and main part of the scene. So along the lines and comment from Holger and Igor, I too was thinking a crop - maybe not as far as the rework, but just enough to remove the long edge-to-edge branch, which also eliminates the blurry leaves up top. That brings it to a nice 4x5 ratio (which is my fave anyway from my large format days…) That’s my only nit are those leaves up top.
Lon, thank you! I’ll try that 4x5 aspect ratio. I’ve been “dragging my feet” on editing this. I’m not a big fan of cropping, but could live with your suggestion.
