Fall colors here are starting to change daily and should reach peak in another week or two. I am planning to get out as much as I can to enjoy this time with my camera before it turns into winter. I didn’t have a full day to photograph, so I decided to walk the Taughannock trail since it’s a shorter trail and has lots of potential for fall colors. It was a gorgeous warm day and since we have been having unusually cold & rainy weather this fall, I loved every minute of the day. I was headed back to the car around 5 when I looked across the gorge and spotted a clump of very red invasive Virginia Creeper. Sad that it’s so invasive because it’s fall color is stunning. This is the shot I managed to compose.
Specific Feedback Requested
Is the composition any good or is it too busy?
I loved the waterfall, but didn’t want it to be the main attraction. Did I do enough to keep it from grabbing your eye?
Anything else.
Donna, just a great composition in a wonderful place to be! It is not at all to busy in my view. You are just telling the story of this beautiful place. Well seen and so well made !
For me it’s borderline too busy. I think the vignetting has reduced the potential busyness of this image. I also think that busyness is not constant for everyone. When I started to print my images and sticking them to all the walls I discovered that I got tired of the busy ones much faster than the ones with distinct simple designs. So I strive for that now in my work. Perhaps you should print as well. It is easier to determine what you like or dislike with prints than images on a monitor. I don’t know why but it’s true.
Hi Donna. I agree with Ben that it is a lovely wee scene, with the dappled light, rock detail, flowing water, and contrast of dead leaves and growing plants.
As Igor does, I print many of my images and agree that the simple and focussed ones keep on keeping on whereas busy scenes can soon lose their appeal. Nonetheless, I have found that I really like some very busy scenes such as we have here in our bush (forest), for instance, where native plants are very dense and it is difficult to isolate individual elements. I have had a print of one such bush scene on my wall for a long time and never tired of looking at it becasue it reminded me of the peacefulness and beauty of the area. After I replaced it with another image I found that I really wanted it back up again. So I guess it just depends on the emotional connection to a busy scene as to whether it would be improved by simplification. Personally, I went through a period of minimalism with my photos but after a while I just found that to be a bit lifeless unless there was a clear emotional connection with the subject. Cheers.
Nice shot here! I like what you are doing in this shot. Thanks for great explanation of what kind of feedback you’re looking for. Of course, each person will have a diff opinion, so I’ll offer up mine. As I look at the image, it’s about the stick, the foliage to the left of the stick and the water. That’s the essence of the image. yes/no?
Busy-ness - I think it’s a smidge busy for what I like. I too like the simpler scenes, I feel they can tell a stronger story with clear subjects, room to breathe and some room for interpretation. I would offer that the upper 1/5 of the image, including the leaf pile, doesn’t particularly add to the image. And the 1/5 on the right side could probably been cropped out without any loss to the impact of the image.
Waterfall - I hear you about trying to minimize the visual impact of it so it doesn’t draw all the attention. Going back to the “essence” of the image as I see it, I almost want a bit more water in the shot, or less minimization of it. It’s kind of an afterthought to me in the shot, so I think to myself is it an important compositional element or not? Tough to tell.
The above is my first reaction comments…after I went “oooh, nice image!” You did a great job on this one!
To my eye I find this complex yet not too busy if that makes sense. The rocks and the sticks/logs provide a nice basic structure. Interesting choice to place the waterfall at the edge–I think it works as there are brighter parts of the scene more in the middle.
There is so much to like about this image that, for me, its strength becomes its weakness. I love the colours, lighting, and your work in post but there’s just no place for my eye to come to rest. It could be the waterfall, it could be the highlighted rock, it could be the red lit leaves. But all together, I find it an unsettling composition, which I’m guessing wasn’t your intent. You said it was the Virginia Creeper that caught your eye and perhaps, trusting your intuition and making it about that might have given the picture mored focus and, therefore, more power. This is one of my growing edges - “ruthless editing” not just in post but in the composition of the picture in the field. The waterfall is lovely (what waterfall isn’t ) but here, for me at least, it doesn’t add, it distracts.
I immediately thought of an autumn garden (mostly because “garden” is on my brain with recent posts) This is a lovely scene. I like the “tiers” here that contain all the variety of interest, color, etc. I like the weathered branch as it sort of ties together all the tiers and layers. I like the dappled light as well.
IMHO, I think it’s actually the inclusion of the partial falls that pushes the comp to something that might be considered busy. You did well to include enough of the cascade to let the viewer know you intened to include this - and you say you really liked the water… I think then the decision to include everything else became the tough part.
Personally, I see 2 choices. One option, just eliminate the water all together. You have a wonderful mix of colors and light to fill a whole frame without the water (subsequently trim the bottom). Another alternative would be to crop like 15% off the right and retain the waterfall. This would bring a little more purpose back on the water, and also retain some of the other “tiered” features of this lovely scene.
Donna, I want to add that I like this image very much. It’s very clear what you were after. The thought was wonderful and you make your point very clearly. And it’s not at all cliche. The large rock with the beautiful shadows. The plant with the vibrant yellow an greens. The stick that forks with increased contrast. That’s a wonderful collection of subjects - almost like a still life. I agree that the falls pull you out of the picture but the best solution is to darken the bright edges as much as possible rather than crop. I say that because removing the rock with the dappled light would be a shame.
@Ben_van_der_Sande@DeanRoyer Thank you both. Ben, it is a wonderful place to be and I walk this trail a lot except for summer when it’s a zoo. Dean, I’m glad you like the waterfall included. If I could pull it off, I thought it would be interesting having it on the left instead of being the featured subject.
@Phil_G Thanks Phil. We have very busy and messy forests here too and I find it very hard for me to simplify them. I have to go to other states to find forests that can be simplified. I did a couple of reworks of suggestions from others that I know make sense composition wise. I do think that rework 2 suggested by @Igor_Doncov and @Lon_Overacker where I can keep the waterfall and dappled light might be a good compromise. Thanks for taking time to critique my image.
@Igor_Doncov@Lon_Overacker Thank you both for your suggestions and time. I’m hearing you both. I’ve posted a rework 2 that I think helps and I can keep the waterfall.
Igor, I also like the dappled light on the L side. Most waterfalls are the featured subject. I knew I couldn’t have the waterfall and the beautiful colors of the Virginia Creeper both be the main subject. I cropped the waterfall out a lot knowing it wasn’t strong enough to be the main subject thinking it might be cool to include a waterfall that wasn’t the main attraction.
Lon, I’m also taking your suggestion of cropping more off and maybe that’s enough to take some of the business out.
@Kerry_Gordon@John_Pedersen I had a lot of suggestions that I truly appreciate. I tried a couple of crops ( rework 1 & rework 2) that I think included most of the suggestions. One of the hard lessons of photograph I’m trying to accept is that good compositions only have one main subject. I’m getting much better at taking photos that stay true to this concept, but sometimes I just want a little more. Thank you both for taking your time to make me a better photographer!
Strange I thought I had already added my comment to this shot. I love it, the lively colours of the softly lit area sandwiched between the faded edges of the chosen composition which is pretty busy but compositionally cohesive more so in my opinion than the one that includes the cascade that being nearer the edge of the frame pulls the eye away from the central forked stick. The stick in the centre now remains the subject accordingly.
Hey Donna! I think this is a great concept, and I understand the desire to not make the waterfall the main subject because the early fall colors are beautiful. I would suggest choosing one or another. If you try to add both, they will be fighting for attention because they are both a main idea of the photo. If you choose one subject for a photo, you can turn and take a separate photo for the other, simplify both compositions and come away with two very direct compositions!
@Ian_Cameron@David_Johnston Thank you both for taking your time to critique my image. I was hoping to darken the waterfall enough so that it wouldn’t’ draw the eye , but that didn’t work. I like the cropped image. I’ll think of this as a lesson learned.
Hi Donna. I like the straight lines of the rocks contrasting with the curves of the bushes and logs. I saw the cropped image first and came across the waterfall one later. I think the waterfall and color bring up a challenge I often have which is getting all of the objects I want in the frame, sometimes it’s tough to decide what to sacrifice.
@Igor_Doncov , I think this works very well!! I had a vignette, but I see that I didn’t go dark enough. I loved the dappled light too, and really liked the little waterfall on the left. The waterfall wasn’t pretty enough to take a separate photo of it. It needed help, but I thought I could minimize it enough that it wasn’t a draw. I will darken my vignette and darken the wedge rock on the left. Thank you for helping me make this photo look like I visioned it. This will be the one I keep.
You did a great job on this one!
) but here, for me at least, it doesn’t add, it distracts.
Thank you both for taking your time to make me a better photographer!
