The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive
About This Image
This is a re-edit of an older image.
I stayed a week in the French Alpes Maritimes, the Alps neat the Mediterranean sea, with my daughter, in autumn. We both love to hike. It had been cold in the night and we drove very carefully the various slippery hairpins to the start of the day hike. The very first part of the trail was a stream crossing, really challenging because all the rocks in the stream were covered with ice and extremely slippery. Could easily have been the end of the hike as well.
We made it safely and then I looked back and saw, that there still was some hoar frost on the trees that I haven’t even noticed before, as I was focused on crossing the stream. That’s when I captured this image.
Feedback Requested
The scene is pretty chaotic. The only tree that stands out a bit is the large pine in the center. Do you think that it is too chaotic and that there is no real subject? Or is it still visually appealing?
I boosted contrast and saturation. I found the leaves in the LRC distracting after the edit and lowered the saturation there and darkened the corner a little bit. Small crop.
A higher ISO combined with a faster shutter speed would have rendered the image a bit sharper.
Han: I like how you filled the frame and I really like the color palette and your rendition of it. This would work better for me if the main tree wasn’t centered in the frame. Without knowing what was to the left, if there was interesting stuff there I would put the tree on the right third since it is" looking" to the left. As is I tend to get stuck on the tree and don’t explore the other marvelous details. I can also see a portrait 4:5 crop just featuring the main tree that would work as well. >=))>
I like @Bill_Fach’s idea for the crop. I think it does strengthen the composition since as you mentioned the photo does not have a strong subject in mind as you presented it. Bill’s idea does give the tree more presence.
Thanks a lot, @Youssef_Ismail and @Bill_Fach for your comments.
I don’t remember if there was anything of interest to the left, I agree that putting the tree to the right of the center would be better. I do know, that I cropped a small slice at the left, because I considered the content distracting.
I tried several crops myself, similar to the one that you both prefer, and I understand the reason behind it. But to me, the image is so drastically changed by this crop that I tend to stay with the original frame.
Han, I really like how many different but subtle colors you have in here. The bright vertical trunks and the frost free areas along the top and left make an interesting contrast to the frostiness elsewhere. The big frosty leaner in the center makes a good focal point. Another possible crop might be a 4x5 removing much of the right side…
[Crop] It removes the tree trunks that catch my eye because they are so white and they are also a little bit unappealing
The tree in the center of the image is certainly the focal point for me. Plus, the broken branch hanging off of that tree in the center that is catching most of the frost that morning. It’s the red trunk that stands out as you mentioned.
I like the full frame of this shot. There is fall colors on both sides of that main tree plus another red tree trunk to the right that I find appealing. I really like the broken limb though too. That may be my favorite part of the image. I like the left side less than the rest of the image and I might crop off a couple of those trees that have the white trunks and pull the eye ever so slightly. They are not needed in this image and are distracting.
Thank you @Mark_Seaver and @David_Haynes for your comments. Much appreciated.
It is clear from the different comments that you all “explored” the image extensively and came to the conclusion that you prefer a crop, thought not always the same crop. I’ve been struggling with the same options with this image, and I’ll return to it again.
