From a very beautiful morning in mid October of 2022. The first frost of the year showed up on the ground that morning. With that and the morning sunlight the grass around this small river turned a dusky gray and black. The trees were just past peak but their orange color felt right with the sunlight. The sky seemed to catch the river in the right way to really make it stand out against the banks.
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I will often do a lot of post composing, but in this shot i really used what i had gotten with minimal cropping. I enjoy the way the orange of the sunrise blends with the orange of the trees. I could see how that might be a feature that people might not like. II included a bit of the sky on the upper edge to give it context. I tend to like photos less when i crop the sky out. tried to compose the shot with the river going horizontally through the frame and then have it be vignetted from the corners by the fall trees.
Very interesting light and composition. I like the bit of sky showing the origin of the sunlight washing over the landscape. The light on the river feels unique and interesting.
There may be room to play with the color balance, but that’s only a thought, not something that feels necessary.
This is a very interesting image I think because of the colors. The stream area has a little bit of red/magenta in it. I’m not saying that’s bad, but I just noticed that. I like the contrast in the bushes that are around the stream. It gives the photo some depth. Nice job.
The twists and turns of the river are superb Cameron. I’m a huge fan of fall color, golden hour color, etc., but I wonder if you also took a shot that left all that behind and just included those wonderful twists and turns? If you did, I’d love to see that one too.
Back to this image, I hear your preference for including the sky. My vote if it is included would be for it to not be so tight. IMHO it needs just a bit more breathing room, especially in that URC. Also, while the color in this is believable I prefer it moved slightly to cyan so that that there is a bit more color contrast in that nice section of trees in the upper left.
Great drone image, Cameron. I think the attraction for me is the twisting turning river. The comp is good, although as others have said, maybe either more or no sky… not sure which way I’d go there.
Great scene all around. Hope you’re having fun with that Mini 2.
What a great drone image. The frosty effects, winding river and stunning autumn foliage are killer!!
The composition is perfect apart from the top edge, where I’d agree it needs a bit more. I’ve made an edit to your picture which includes a bit extra.
The colour does look heavy on the orange/red in my opinion and it lacks a bit of colour contrast. i.e. if it’s frosty and clear skies, I’d expect to see some cools in the shadows and open areas. I’ve made a slight tweak to that effect. I also locally reduced the red a tiny bit in the very left middle river and far right separate watercourse.
Finally, the highlight recovery has turned the areas of saturated yellow a murky green colour. This is usually to do with clipping channels so a good bracket might show the ‘correct’ colour. I’ve made a couple of colour tweaks to bring this back to a neutral-yellow. I’d like to see a little more tone in the deep black of the shadows…
We get a lot of drone shots in the competition but I think this would definitely get past the first rounds and then it would be up to how the main panel judges think - some can be a bit more critical of drone images but I think this would do pretty well…
Thank you John. I actually do have some shots of just the river but I liked the way the color framed the unique colors of the river and the frost. Thank you for the color adjustment suggestions and thank you for taking the time to critique the photo.
Thank you Tim. You have taught me some
Interesting things about how judges look at photos. I enjoy entering contests even though my record so far isn’t great. Will continue to persevere. Thanks for doing the guest critique
