The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Just some beautiful morning fog through a Eucalyptus stand on the California Coast. This was shot handheld in relatively low light at 500 mm, so it took quite a few tries for me to get a crisp shot. There were quite a few distractions in the RAW, so this was as wide of a decent crop as I could get.
Specific Feedback
I am unsure about a few things, namely the image’s white balance. I like the somewhat cooler tones but am unsure if it is too cool or saturated. I also don’t know if the vignette is too strong. The last thing I would appreciate some help with is the crop. I’m not sure if this composition is too busy and if I should crop it into a smaller portion of the image, or leave it as is.
Hi Lance and welcome to NPN. I am sure you will enjoy the community.
I for one think there is nothing wrong with the photograph regarding white balance and composition. With the mist and the low saturation I would have almost thought of monochrome, but the brownish tint of the grass works very well. I like the mood and that it has the feel of a painting, also the fact that the V in the foreground has the same angle as the two trees right next to it.
With this kind of picture it is hard to tell, but looking at the grass in the background it seems a bit tilted? A real nice first post and thanks for sharing.
I think it’s really easy to mess up (subjective of course) forest photography edits, but I think you nailed it. Love the white balance, love the soft processing, don’t notice a strong vignette. Regarding the crop, it feels fine to me, but hard to tell without really seeing what the other options might be. I suppose it feels a little left-heavy if I’m trying to nitpick? I wonder whether moving left or right a few feet (or inches, if you’re at 500mm!) might have arranged the trees a little more evenly, especially regarding placing the background trees more intentionally in the gaps between the foreground trees? Very possibly not, but when it all comes together like that, I think it looks amazing (example: https://baxter.photos/shop/lothlorien/).
Thank you for the welcome, Holger! Very excited to finally be a part of this community Thank you for the feedback, I really appreciate it. I had not really noticed the angles of the trees until you pointed that out, so thanks! I think monochrome would look really neat too, but as you said the brown actually kind of works. I definitely need to try and straighten the horizon. Thank you for your feedback and input!
Thanks a ton, Brian! This was definitely one of my lighter edits as the fog created such a strong atmosphere even straight out of camera. I see what you mean about the gaps between the trees. That’s something I’ve never really paid attention to while shooting in forests, but I certainly will now! I believe I moved around a bit and might have some variations of the shot - fingers crossed! Really appreciate the feedback.
Lance, a hearty welcome to NPN!! This is a gorgeous first post!! I’ve shot a few eucs in the fog myself (I’m N of San Francisco) and I think you have done a beautiful job with tonalities, with lovely and subtle separation of the elements. The white balance, saturation and contrast feels just right!
I look forward to your participation and hope you will find it as rewarding a place to hang out as I do.
Hi and welcome to NPN. Fog is a photographer’s best friend, isn’t it? I like the subtle tones and lack of heavy contrast that goes along with mist and fog so using some strong subject elements like these trees is enough to engage my attention. The blue seems a touch cyan to my eye, but it may have been like that - fog does weird things to colors as the water in the air bends light. The green leaves on the right side trees are a nice touch that breaks up some of the patterns and adds a bit of texture. The bigger, darker trees on the left seem a bit heavy and unbalance the composition somewhat so cropping them out while keeping a similar aspect ratio might be an improvement. If cropping doesn’t work, you could try lightening them with the dehaze slider in Lightroom. You didn’t say which editing software you use, but maybe others have something similar. I used a brush with negative dehaze to enhance a misty landscape of mine the other day and it worked really well.
Site Tip - you can reply to multiple people in one post by highlighting any text in their reply and using the Quote function. Another way is to use the @ symbol and choose the person in the list that comes up. Use the tab key to automatically select and fill the name in your reply. Hope that made sense!
Anyway, I hope to see more of your work and what you have to say about the other photos you see in Critique.
@Kris_Smith is this how you do it? Thanks for the advice, the site is a bit overwhelming at first but I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it sooner or later. Thanks for the feedback too, I really appreciate it! I find that I have a tendency to overuse magenta in the tint slider so I didn’t mess with the tint at all, but I’ll try adding a bit of magenta to the shot. I also agree about the leftmost trees and how distracting they are, so thanks for that! I’m going to try and put some more atmosphere in front of them.
First of all, welcome to NPN!! Great to have you here and what a fantastic first post! I love this image! This really has a distinct painterly look - almost like a charcoal sketch - but I’m really appreciating the color (rather than a b&w treatment.)
These are great questions you’ve asked yourself, so I’ll address each of them. First, the WB. I too like the cooler tones and I think the WB is perfect. I can only see a cyan hint - because Kris mentioned… but I never thought that to begin with. Same with the vignette? Subtle and that didn’t pop out to me either. The crop works beautifully for me and here’s why. The forward trees fill the space with nice balance. Any crop would make this feel cramped. I also like the broader view as it allows the background feel almost infinite and certainly it’s fading adds mystery.
And so I don’t have anything to suggest! I think this is outstanding as presented.
We look forward to more images and for your participation in the galleries and forums. Yeah, there’s a lot to explore and absorb here - so don’t hesitate in asking any questions. You’re off to a great start!
@Lon_Overacker thank you so much, Lon! I agree with the cyan tint, and also really appreciate your feedback regarding the crop. Since telephoto shots are already so tight to being with I have a hard time cropping them in even more, and definitely agree that it would only damage this scene. I’m really excited to be a part of the community and really appreciate how welcoming you and others are. I only wish I’d joined sooner!
Oops, meant to respond, but got sidetracked. Yes, that’s exactly how. I used the quote feature by highlighting the text above.
Site tip - If you do make changes and have a second edit, you can add that to your original post by clicking the pencil (edit) icon at the bottom of your post. This allows us to compare both photos in the viewer one after the other. You can also edit the title with something like + 1 Rework or similar to alert the group that you have done it.
My vote is to “Leave it as is”
There are always subjective choices for cooler, warmer, color, composition, etc. and IMHO, the only subjective choice to go with is yours, it is your work of art!
Of course it’s always a good idea to consider what others are offering, we never know what might be appealing to us until we explore what the options are ,and we often have blind spots as the author.
My subjective choice aligns with yours in this case, I like it very much as presented.
My conceptual interpretation is one of infinity, I feel that there is an endless line of trees that weaves in and out of the scene with no particular sense of order, I feel that if I were to walk through this scene, I would have the feeling that it never ends, the only thing different would be the shape of the trees and the topography of the ground.
I fully appreciate that you made several attempts at finding the composition that you felt good about, that is the essence of being a photographer in my view, it’s not only about the subject but also about “How can I capture this scene in the most impactful way”.
Hi Lance,
welcome to NPN and congrats on the Editor’s Pick!
I am familiar with Eucalyptus forests in Europe along the Atlantic coast in Northern Spain and Portugal. Your image conveys the essence of their specific atmosphere in a convincing way to me.
Regarding composition, contrast and white balance I would not change anything. Thanks for sharing!
PS: my only advice would be always to carry a tripod with you
I’m a little bit late here but I first want to welcome you to NPN. I hope you find it as beneficial as the rest of us here. You tend to get out of it what you put into it.
As far as the colors, I think it works perfectly although I think I see a slight magenta tone but maybe not. There is just enough color in the grasses to let the viewer know this isn’t a B&W. The tones are soft and ethereal and the fog gives this so much mood. As @Kris_Smith says, Fog is a photographer’s best friend. I couldn’t agree more.
As for the composition, the left tree sneaking into the frame is a little bit of an eye grabber although I think if you dodged it and added some Dehaze, you could de-emphasize the heaviness of it. Other than that, I don’t think you could have done anything differently and a crop wouldn’t work. I just don’t see a place that you could crop on the left and make it cohesive so stick with what you’ve already got and perhaps work on that left tree a little bit. I love the depth of the scene and how the trees go on forever. So typical of a eucalyptus forest but well seen and captured. You had terrific conditions and certainly made the most of them. Awesome first post and congratulations on the EP. I look forward to many more of your images and your contribution to the site.
