The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical
About This Image
I got this capture from our north facing deck one evening recently. The Sierras can cause some very interesting afternoon clouds. I had my camera set up for capturing birds but I just tried my luck on these clouds with it.
Feedback Requested
I’d appreciate any kind of feedback on this photo. I didn’t have too much time to tripod up so I grabbed the moment with my monopod. What say you? Cropping? Exposure? Anything?
Technical Details
Taken with a Z9, 180-600 lens, Nikon 1.4 TC, monopod, 1/640th, f 8, 252mm, ISO 3200, cropped to 8256 x 5434.
Amazing conditions, @Dave_Douglass! You’re lucky to view that from your deck! What an amazing cloud with amazing colour.
One of the things I like is how the clouds kind of follow the contour of the trees, like mittens for your trees. I want to accentuate that.
But one thing that keeps bothering me is the branch in the top-right section of the image. It’s blurrier than the rest. I even checked your shutter speed to see if it was blowing (but it wasn’t given you were shooting at 1/640th).
So for me, that distracts my eye from the subject of this image and that is the clouds and secondarily the relationship of the clouds with the trees in the foreground.
Personally, I think I like the first crop better because it provides a bit more context. The 2nd version is a little boring and sterile. The first crop provides more interest.
At any rate, for me, removing the branch from the right side of the image helps draw my eye to the clouds.
