The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This is a look South across the Yellowstone River up the Tom Miner Basin towards Sheep Mountain (one of several Sheep Mountains in the local area…) on a day with a mixture of sun and showers.
Specific Feedback
I was attracted to the mix of stormy skies and sun showing off the colors along this side channel of the Yellowstone River.
Technical Details
R5, 24-105 @ 95, 1/250 s, f/16, iso 800, tripod and polarizer
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Vision and Purpose:
Conceptual:
Emotional Impact and Mood:
Composition:
Balance and Visual Weight:
Depth and Dimension:
Color:
Lighting:
Processing:
Technical:
Gorgeous color and light here, Mark. The stormy sky adds fine drama to the scene.
Just my opinion, but the large tree and light-toned bush on the right are somewhat distracting: My eye goes right to them. I believe you could crop them out, which would improve the compositional balance. Also, there is a dark rock on the river that is also an eye-catcher.
This is a great scene that is nicely processed. Well done!
-P
This is a wonderful, beautiful, evocative photo. Well composed and processed. Only minor nits, like Preston’s suggestion, and border patrol neurosis: on the right edge just above the yellow leaves a branch sticks out and I would darken or remove it. Really, though, the photo is fabulous as is.
Lovely capture! That combo of rain and sunshine makes this all the more striking. I do agree with @Preston_Birdwell with those eye catching elements.
I have posted here my suggestions via a crop and some adjustments including some dehaze to the clouds in the top 5% or so and adding a little “pop” to the mountains - for whatever its worth - just my 2 cents
I hope to get there in 2026 for this type of foliage
I’ll fall right in line with how beautiful this is Mark. Lovely mix of fall color, bucolic stream, snow-dusted peaks, and dramatic clouds.
For me, I really like the placement of the most distant peak and cutting off the right side crowds it too far to the edge. I also love the color in that right side. I think what is challenging, and can’t be fixed with a crop, is that the stream doesn’t flow more through the scene. I don’t know if it was an option to move to the left to take the photo, but moving so that the stream exited closer to the right side would have been an interesting comparison.
This is really a pretty simple scene but oh man does it ever work! The layers from bottom up that transition from warm yellow leaves to cool blue mountains and sky are fantastic. I hadn’t noticed the fence until reading Igor’s comment and I’m glad I did, because he’s right, it really does add a little something to the scene. This is just lovely!
What a gorgeous scene, Mark! You definitely hit peak colors. I think you must have been there at the same time I was. September 29th to October 12th. That storm dumped a bunch of snow and it was mostly gone the next day. But you timed it right. Stellar Fall colors in the foreground brush and trees and snow in the mountains. The only distraction I see is the small branch poking out the right side of the frame about a third of the way up from the bottom in front of the red bush. The small bit of water
in the foreground and particularly that small bit of fence in the mid-ground really pull the scene together. The drama of the clouds adds dimension as well.
Hi Mark,
This is flat out gorgeous from the front to the back. The autumn colors appear to be peak; then you have the snow capped mountains, all topped off with those drama laden clouds. When I opened the large version the image was elevated another notch when I pleasantly discovered that fence cutting through the midground. For me that was the finishing touch for this lovely scene. I only have two very small suggestions; # 1 would be to remove those two black rocks in the stream and # 2 would be to remove that light toned limb along the right side about 1/3rd of the way from the LRC. Just my opinion of course. This is beautifully done.
This is a beautiful image Mark! I love the clashing of seasons with the peak autumn color and the snowy peaks. The skies enhance the mood of the photo while the bit of dappled light on the foreground really helps make the color pop. Nicely done!
