The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I was initially drawn to the fallen branch and how the white contrasted with the deep brown of the water beneath. Once I’d set up to take the image I realised the reflections might be able to add to the story by showing the reflected trees above and I liked the transition of the reflected blue sky to the deeper browns of the water.
Specific Feedback
What do you think? Does this work for you, does including the reflection add to the image or just add complexity?
Technical Details
GFX 50S II
Fuji 35-70
F16
1/10sec
ISO 100
Edited in Lightroom
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Ooh, I like that Dom. The branches and leaves that float above the reflection create a depth that sings to my eyes.
With that said, I think this could be tweaked to be even better; the contrast is a little too strong.
The branches are so bright they are losing detail. I don’t know if some of that is recoverable, but if so I would work on that.
I also think the reflection could be opened up a bit. It does a wonderful job of hinting, but too much is hidden. When I played with this in Photoshop and opened that background a bit, I liked it better.
Thanks very much John. I think you’re right, I need to do a bit more work on the edit. It’s tricky with the reflections as I want them to be there but not overpower, but as you say probably need to open them up a little more. I did a luminosity mask on the branches and maybe I’ve pushed that a little far as well. I’ll make some tweaks and post a revised version.
Hi Dom,
This is a very unusual and unique scene. I think the reflection is a key part of the image as it tells part of the story. I also am enjoying the way the light transitions across the scene; with the darker tones on the left adding a bit of mystery. @John_Williams has given you some great suggestions already. Hopefully you can recover some details on the white branches. Nicely done!
I’m really enjoying this one, @DomMcKenzie. It’s very nicely composed and is a complex, yet simple, scene. The longer one studies it the more they’ll discover little details within the image. I agree that the branches are a bit too bright. I don’t know how you feel about such things but I’d be tempted to try a version with those separate branches at the bottom cloned out. I think it would really emphasize the main branch more. Either way, great eye to find this little scene.
I love the creativity that went into this image. On the one hand it’a natural but on the other it’s fantasy. So you have a choice of how to look at it. There’s a certain magic about it. Nothing makes sense yet it’s beautiful, extraordinary. Great work in my opinion. Thank you for sharing.
Now that I’ve read the comments I want to say that I wouldn’t change any of it. If you raise the darkness you lose the mystery. Keep it dark. Yes, the branch is bright. That’s the point. You want to have it look as a branch and an abstraction. You want the mind to not understand. Don’t try to make the branch look real.
This quote seems appropriate -
“To suggest is to create; to describe is to destroy.”
I’ve attached a slightly reworked version - the loss of detail in the branch was mostly due to the conversion to jpg, in the RAW there is detail there. Nonetheless, it was a little too bright so I have quietened it down a little - I wasn’t intending for it to look completely blown out, but rather on the edge of that. I’ve also attached a slightly higher resolution version that shows that detail a little better, although admittedly quite a lot is still lost.
I have also slightly lightened the image overall and pulled a little more out of the shadows. It’s a bit of a balancing act, I think if I go too far with that the background quickly starts to detract. I hope I haven’t already gone too far in that regard. I might need to print this one to get a different perspective on it.
Other than the above I’ve made various minor tweaks in ACR. I also altered the crop slightly as I wasn’t sure the original small crop was to any benefit… now I’m torn on which I prefer!
@Bret_Edge I have played with removing those branches but I think overall I prefer them left in. I try not to remove things unless I really have to and I like the sort of splatter effect they create.
@Igor_Doncov I love that quote, that’s exactly what’s in my mind!
The dark part has lost some of its mystery. Maybe something between the two versions. I also preferred the more zoomed in look of version 1. I do think slightly darkening the branch may be an improvement. As things stand now I think the original was better. Maybe reintroduce some of the deep blacks. The new version looks a bit washed out.
@Igor_Doncov I think I tend to agree. It’s a very fine thing, just a tiny bit more exposure and the background becomes too obvious. I’ve created a v3 and attached it. I think this is closer to my original ‘vision’ (as pretentious as that sounds), and it somewhere between the two other versions. Thanks for your input.
I think I need to sit with these different versions for a while and decide what I prefer, will probably leave this be now and come back to it in a few weeks/months.
I must say that I like version 3 at the very top of this post. I love the interaction between the reflected trees and the twigs rising out of the water. They almost contradict each other. The bright, almost white branches as well as those three leaves to the left rising out of the murkiness, yum! The almost black and mysterious reflected trees running horizontal with muted and dark tones and the drowned leaves showing little life in them. What a contradiction. I just absolutely love this.
