I went to Alford Lake to shoot cracked mud but instead encountered a fierce wind. There was nothing to do but to photograph it. These mounds occur on the east side of the lake. I found them to be very expressive. I shot this in color but b&w seemed to be a better medium. Once again, I shot this mostly for their emotional impact.
Let me know how this grabs you.
GFX50R, 45-100mm
It’s a pretty simple image, but that’s not a bad thing really. I like the small black mound near the back right and the fog. I would prefer to see an un-bordered image for critique, personally. The black rocks in the foreground are a nice touch!
Igor,The B&W makes it. To me it sais" this is nature" pure but not desolate. In a great composition. Should love to make a walk out there.
Igor,
Great job with the b&w choice - very effective here. My biggest impression here is the triggering of my imagination - wondering how these mounds were formed? Perhaps some ancient beaver lodge consumed by time… I like the contrast of the repeating mounds in the mid-ground, although undecided if I like the one right next to the left edge.
Without your description, I wouldn’t necessarily get the “fierce wind” conditions. Granted, wind is about the most elusive condition to depict in 2-dimensional photography… but still, the distant dust could easily be rising steam, fog or a giant sulfur spring… and I am not connecting the mound to that blowing sand. If the mound had leading/trailing edges where there was evidence of a wind-blown effect, I could connect; but what’s weird is that this mound doesn’t look like it’s been created by the wind, necessarily.
I’m not sure the upper sky is necessary, but any crop brings the horizon line closer to 50/50, which wouldn’t be an improvement. I do really like the pebbles strewn about in the foreground - very important giving the foreground sand some texture and detail.
I do like this quite a lot actually. But any emotional reaction is based mostly on what triggers the imagination - and that’s just me.
Lon
Yes, I’m not convinced on the merits of this image at all. Here is the colored version btw. I initially liked the colored version but then started experimenting with b&w on this subject matter and thought it captured better the desolation of the scene. The title was chosen because I needed something but really it was the mound on the flat plain. This really is just about trying something new and seeing where it goes. I also think these type of scenes are not for everyone.
The b&w version feels quite bleak to me. The color is appealing, with the equal parts blue and brown.
What do you find expressive about the mounds? Their loneliness or tenacity in the landscape? If that’s the case, I could see framing this even wider, to accentuate the space around the mound. If it’s the intrinsic character of the mound (texture or whatever), I could see framing it closer - say cropping off the right so that dark blob is about the same distance from the edge of the frame as the leftmost dark spot.
I don’t find the colour version particularly interesting. The black and white, however, has a bleakness and desolate feeling that is stirring. So, yes, it does have an emotional impact for me. I think it would be worth trying Bonnie’s idea of cropping from the right but I would also be tempted to bring up more texture/clarity just on the mound itself to set it even more apart from the surrounding windswept haze. When I first looked at the image small, I imagined a more textured and detailed mound and admit to having been a bit disappointed when it wasn’t.
@Bonnie_Lampley, @Lon_Overacker, @Ben_van_der_Sande, @Kerry_Gordon, @Matt_Payne
Thank you for your comments. This is admittedly more of an experimental image for me. I thought it had something in it but don’t feel the composition really makes the point very convincingly. I feel there is material here for a good image but needs more searching and experimentation and probably more thinking. Initially I wanted more contrast in that mound but it got too dark in an inappropriate way and therefore went with a more tonal neutral approach. Going tonal neutral in b&w almost never comes out very well. Actually the composition isn’t too bad imo.
