Golden Hour Light at Raven’s Nest

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
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Ravins Nest Sunset_NPN.jpg
Ravins Nest Sunset_NPN.jpg1500×840 304 KB

Critique Style Requested: Initial Reaction

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

Like any photographer one always wants to capture the mood of the moment. With a basic goal of capturing an image of at least 1 Gigapixel in size, did I capture mood of the moment and the warm light setting sun on the rock wall along with the sea foam on the shore?

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

This shot proved to be one of the most difficult wall murals I have ever attempted to process and stitch. Stitching the images was the difficult part because there were many images with just the ocean. Nothing to reference to for the stitching software. Finally I noticed that there were 100’s of lobster/crab pot buoys scattered all over the ocean surface. I was able to use these buoys as reference points to do the stitching.

The un-cropped image is:
2.29 Giga-pixels
34,188 x 75,851 pixels
119″ x 213″ 300 dpi un-cropped (9:16 ratio) image size

This link will take you to a full screen interactive virtual tour of the image: https://abbascreationsphotography.com/Ravens%20Nest/index.html

Technical Details

Shoot with Canon R5, f/11, 1/160th sec., ISO 200 using Canon 200mm lens. Original image consists of 760 individual focus bracketed images. These were processed down to 96 focus stacked images and then stitched into the final image seen here.

Preprocessing was done with Adobe Camera RAW. Focus stacking with Helicon Focus Pro. Stitching was done using PTGui. Post processing in Photoshop.

Specific Feedback

Aesthetic, Emotional and Technical

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:
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John: A very inviting scene and the light is indeed golden and marvelous. One tiny suggestio would be to make the small twigs entering the frame on the left side go away. I can’t quite figure what to do with the tree on the right. Cropping it away might be Ok but the light on it is attractive and I think it would be equally nice to see a bit more of it. I could see a bit of a camera rotation to the right or a slightly wider view to bring more of the tree into play. This is a place I’ve never seen in person so this is a nice treat. Overall, well done. >=))>

3

A beautiful view and I can see why you would like to capture the beauty here. Golden rocks and blue sea is always a great combination.

I wonder about the tightness of the sky, and wish there were just a bit more of it. The horizon looks tricky. Maybe landfall makes the RHS horizon look a bit wonky.

The tree on the right hand side frames the vista and I think a little more tree would be amazing.

4

OMG!!! I can’t even imagine the work gone into this! You have more patience than myself.

5

John, the golden light on the rocks leading off into the ocean looks great and pulls my eyes like a magnet. I like the rocks/tree on the left as a visual stop leading the viewer to the distant islands(??). Bill’s twigs don’t bother me as much as the oof tree branch that comes in above them. I would also suggest a bit of burning-in on the tree top near the right corner, where it’s somewhat lighter than the rest of the tree. Chuckling about using the crab pots to alighn ocean images…water movement in stacking is always a challenge, since the stacking software likes to add extra texture.

6

John,

Great image! The quality of light and expansiveness of that setting were the two items that stood out to me initially. Both are captured quite well.

Given that, the rocky cliff receiving the light on the left, more specifically all the smaller rocks and the portion in shadow to me are not necessary and distracts from the core of what I see in your image. The tree and cliff on the right of the frame as well. Your edits are done very well on an image that could easily be overdone. To emphasize the expansiveness of the setting I would be interested in seeing panoramic crop. The top half or so. Thoughtfully done, it would add an extra element of layering to the image that isn’t present in your original composition. Either way beautiful image.

7

John, a few remarks (most of my observations have already been commented on by others):

The horizon seems “wonky” (not sure if that is a term of art, but I like it!) because of the barely visible bits of land at the right edge of the horizon. Since they do not add anything, I would clone them out, but your mileage may differ.

The foliage seems a little “flat” compared to the drama and beauty of the rocks and the blue ocean. Perhaps just a touch of saturation?

8

My initial reaction John is I wish I was there. That just might be one of the key indicators of a successful landscape shot!