Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.
Questions to guide your feedback
Do you get a sense of this place?
Other Information
Please leave your feedback before viewing the blurred information below, once you have replied, click to reveal the text and see if your assessment aligns with the photographer. Remember, this if for their benefit to learn what your unbiased reaction is.
Image Description
In the second week of September I was returning to the lower 48 after spending three months photographing in Mainland Alaska. You can’t miss the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge (TNWR) as its boundary is adjacent to the south side of the Alaska Highway for almost 65 miles.
It was an early morning, with fog filling the valley and the sun just catching the cloudy tops of the Wrangell-Saint Elias Mountains. I knew the warming ground and air would soon cause the fog to lift and evaporate. Fortunately the TNWR Visitor Center has a large observation deck. It was from that platform that I made a series of images as the fog rose and fell in the valley. I wanted the tree-lined portion of shoreline projecting into the fog to be substantive—to provide a sense of scale as well as tonal and textural contrasts with the fog.
Technical Details
Canon EOS 5D II; Canon EF 200-400mm @ 280mm; f/10 @ 1/250 sec, ISO 100; Gitzo tripod; RRS BH 55, remote trigger
An interesting capture Bob. I like the horizontal segments, especially the tree line emerging from the fog. My main two suggestions are to crop some of the sky out as it does little to enhance the image as is the largest segment for want of a better word. The other is the WB of the distant mountains and sky, a tad too blue for me. I like the separation of colour with the trees and low lying hills but its a bit too blue.
A wonderful sight to be sure.
Beautiful image. I really like the layered composition. There is a sense of mystery as to what lies underneath the fog between the trees and mountains. I like how you kept the tree tops from touching the foothills. In contrast to Mark, I quite like the blue tones. They look fine to me. We’re trying to make art, not reality. I would crop just a tad from the sky.
Marvellous. I very much like @Michael_Lowe 's crop . That being said, I’m not quite sold on the blueness of the clouds and wonder if a wee bit of split toning mightn’t break up the visual mass up there. It would be interesting to try and light paint a bit of warm tone onto the mountain peaks (the highlighted areas) as well a touch in some of the lighter areas in the sky. I mean this a wonderful image as is but I wonder …
Thank you to @mark28@Michael_Lowe@Kerry_Gordon for your opinions and remarks. The image was made at 7:45 am. At that time of day in Alaska in September there is no warm light. Its cold. Adding it would look artificial. Regarding the suggested crop—The Art Director at Outdoor Photographer Magazine had no suggestions for a crop before publishing it as a spread in the “Favorite Places” feature of the December 2022 issue.
You don’t have to concur with that opinion.
Obviously they don’t, Bob, which makes me wonder why you want feedback if you don’t enjoy getting it if it runs contrary to your opinion or others who mirror yours. This is a fine image, but by no means perfect and ideas and opinions aren’t wrong here. Everyone has a point of view and dismissing those who choose to take the time to offer theirs is not going to encourage people to engage with you. Just my observation. NPN thrives on mutual respect and having an open mind about one’s own work. It has taken me years to get shot of “ownership” of my photos to be able to absorb and consider others’ reactions and advice. It’s been a terrific boost to my perspective while in the field and in the editing process. So I hope that you can lean in that direction when submitting photos for critique here on NPN.
We don’t concur with that opinion, Bob. Or we would not have suggested it. There are all kinds of photographers on NPN , me included, who have work that’s been published. We don’t use it as a weapon against any slight criticisms ,such as the few suggestions we gave. Maybe NPN is not a proper fit for your obviously superior photographic skills.
What exactly are looking to get by posting images on NPN Bob? You clearly don’t want critical feedback as you become defensive when others offer it. Which, as I pointed out before goes against the Art of Image Critique. NPN is all about the community critique, and if you’re here to simply show off and not actually be willing to think about the feedback given, then this isn’t the place for you.
I agree with the others that this needs a crop from the top and the blues are far too saturated. Just because it was taken in the early morning does not mean that there isn’t warm light, even during twilight there is more going on then what you think. There is warmth coming from the reflected light off the atmosphere from the rising sun. It’s not direct light, but it is still warm. Also, magazine editors are not suggesting crops for your compositions, they might suggest a crop to have it fit into a layout, but not to make the best composition.
You need to take a step back and check your ego or leave the site. This is my final warning.
Bob, I feel I have to say something about how you responded to the critiques that were offered based on the image you posted. Let me begin by saying this, I have a strict rule that I follow, not only on this NPN site but in life: I never give advice or “offer suggestions” unless they are specifically asked for. Now, in this case, you specifically asked for something by posting your image. In years past it was possible to post an image for viewing only, without critique. But @David_Kingham came to believe that such postings served little purpose and dropped it as an option. So, if you post an image here on NPN you are asking for a critique – full stop. A number of people, all pretty decent photographers in their own right, took the time not only to give your image a good look but to write something of their impressions of it, just as you had requested. I like to think that your response was one of those ill-considered moments – and we all have them – that doesn’t accurately express your true thoughts and feelings. But I can tell you that I felt your response as written was quite rude and dismissive. I don’t expect that everyone is going to agree with everything I have to say. What I have come to expect, certainly on this site, is some show of appreciation for the time and effort taken on behalf of something you yourself asked for. Honestly Bob, in the future why would I bother to offer a critique to another one of your images only to be chastised for the effort.
