I’m posting this to see how others react to it. I happen to like it and I guess that’s all that counts. But I’m curious how others see this image. I enjoy creating more simple compositions. Simplifying the scene to give each element enough room to breathe and be recognized. I think that creating simple scenes is often harder than shooting more complex, or busy, scenes. To shoot simpler, one needs to really hone in on what they are wanting to photograph, why they are attracted to that, and then work to eliminate anything that doesn’t add to the subject or story. This takes more work, yet I find it more artistically rewarding.
This shot was taken one afternoon in Iceland a couple of weeks ago. I brought my workshop group to a gorgeous waterfall to photograph it. After I helped them and then took a couple of quick shots of the waterfall (which wasn’t speaking to me very loudly) I looked over my shoulder in the other direction and saw this scene. The golden light on the hillside really jumped out at me and then the angle and simplicity of the slope I saw as a wonderful design element. So as others were photographing the obvious subject, I was turned the other way creating this image. Of course I showed this scene to my group, but most were interested in the waterfall, which is understandable.
I am drawn to the simple scenes, ones that are more artistically rewarding to create and possibly tell a stronger story than a more complex scene. What do you think?
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the image.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I would like to hear what others think of this, how you feel about it. Of course any feedback is most welcome!
Technical Details
Fujifilm X-T5
Fujifilm XF50-140mm
f/8, 1/950sec, ISO 800
You can feel free to disregard this because I know some people love negative space, but for me the negative space has to still add something and for me it doesn’t do much here… what about a crop like this? I also am not super fond of the remnants of the bottom area, I don’t think they add much. Otherwise I think the scene works nicely!
Thanks for the comments Matt. I appreciate your thoughts. That’s the beauty of art, sometimes it touches one person differently than another. In my opinion, the negative space is less about the actual subject, and more about the diagonal line, the design element, running through the image, almost dividing the image in half. So it really doesn’t bother me. That’s why I put this image up, in order to get others takes on the shot and I appreciate you taking the time to comment.
I am drawn to images like this, images that are simple, yet elegant and thought provoking.
I really like the trees at the bottom because they show scale, big land structures like this always capture my attention and they seem to hold it for some reason (doesn’t really matter why).
Some people might call the sky in this image negative space but to me it’s not.
Think about it this way, the sunlight has traveled 93 million miles to reach earth, then it traveled another 700 miles through Earth’s atmosphere to reach this slope, if not for that space, the slope wouldn’t be lit up so nice. The space has purpose and is key to the entire scene.
And thinking about it further, the light traveled over 93 million miles and terminated here on this slope, it’s journey is complete.
I really like the composition as presented, the diagonal line is simple and pleasing, I see one image with three elements in harmony with each other
The lighting is very nice in this image. The land glows and the colors are nicely subdued. I like small row of plants at the very bottom although many would say it’s a distraction.
I have a different outlook on simplicity. I like simple images that really aren’t so simple. Overall, this image doesn’t work for me because it doesn’t lead me anywhere. That is, it doesn’t engage my imagination. Perhaps others will react differently.
I see and appreciate the “simple design” here. Our first view of course is the thumbnail page and my immediate thought was, hmmmm, someone has deliberately rotated the horizon for some effect… let’s go look… Well, obvioiusly not the horizion and quickly figured it out. But it certainly comes across as a bold and simple design.
I can see the reluctance on giving so much space to the sky and I played with some crops. But first before that and aside from negative space, etc., my main suggestion here is bumping up the light that is striking the slope.
I mean I think that was what was attracting you to the scene - then you saw the design. so with that, you might consider dodging or otherwise increasing the presence of that light (either darkening the sky, or lightening the snow.
Then, I’m torn on the bottom. I too thought the bottom should be cropped out. It’s one of those things where there is barely enough at the bottom to really add to the scene - in other words, it almost seems like it wasn’t considered in the overall framing. The one thing the bottom row of trees does however, is provide scale, context and location. We know what we’re looking at. Having that cropped out the scene is more graphic and abstract. So in the end it just depends on what you want to present. Either way, the light on the slope is the main attraction.
And I kinda like the yin-yang approach to the design, despite the negative space. In this case, I think it works.
I believe that most people in their early days of photography strive for the more dramatic and iconic scenes and that is what I did as well, it wasn’t until years later when I discovered that simple scenes can have just as much to offer but in a different way and you’re right, pulling off a simple scene that works can be a challenge and maybe that’s because it has to work harder than an iconic waterfall for example.
I like the suggestion that @Lon_Overacker made with regards to the light on the slope, perhaps a little more saturation and luminosity to the yellow channel along with some some balancing and blending would help strengthen this image. Keep in mind that I think it is already a strong image.
BTW, Holding workshops in a place like Iceland has to be a rewarding position to hold!
I’ve been to Iceland but I didn’t get to go on many adventures, I was mostly just passing through
This image has a magical light that makes this simple composition special. I also like that you have divided the image in two halves, the slope and the sky. Maybe limited in thought by the general recommendation to keep the borders clean, I had to think about it for a while but I like that you have included the bushes at the bottom. Regarding my emotional reaction to the image, as already said the light is magical and the composition is very good giving a positive response, it is dampened a little that I IMHO feel that the subject does not move me that much.
John and Igor, thank you for sharing your thoughts, it is a great help for those of us that are not that experienced photographers to grow and evolve. I will for sure try to create simple images and if possible simple images including ambiguity (my interpretation of Igor´s comment), which for me will not be that easy!
Hi John, wow, this is a really nice image. Simple, yes, soft muted colors too. But the light/luminosity draws me in. I like your composition a lot, as it gives us a sense of place and grounding. I also like @Matt_Payne’s crop because it makes it a completely different image, more graphical and abstract. Seems like both images work for different reasons.
Emotionally, I feel the cold, with a promise of the sun to warm me up some…or the promise of the warm sun leaving to make me colder.
Awesome shot, and so glad you had a great time in Iceland.
Thank you all so very very much for the amazing feedback and insights on this image. I posted it because I wanted to see how people would react and I expected (hoped) I would get a diverse response full of different ideas. It’s a great way to see and grow as an artist. I didn’t want to lob up a softball image that I knew was already good, I wanted to put something up that might polarize. I love every single piece of feedback I received. Thank you so much! @Merv - Thank you so much for that amazing description of the journey of the light and how it arrived in the comp to make it special. That was a fantastic take on the beautiful light. @Igor_Doncov - Thank you! I kind of like the small bushes at the base of the mountain too as it adds a bit of scale, plus a bit of surprise for people who look hard enough. I purposefully put them close to the border to add a bit of tension…I usually would want more space between them and the edge of the frame. Thanks for your honesty about not engaging your imagination. Appreciated! @Lon_Overacker - Thank you for the well considered feedback! Much appreciated and welcome. I will work a bit on the light to add a bit more to it. On location, the light was mellow and subdued, so I didn’t want to alter it that much in the initial edit, trying to preserve the “feel” of what was going on at the time. I hear ya about the bottom bushes being that close to the edge of the frame. In this shot, I did it on purpose as “something different” than how I would normally shoot it. Agreed, if I crop it out it turns in to a bit more of an abstract, which is not what I really wanted when I shot this. For me, if I want the pure abstract route, I’d also crop out the rocks on the upper left and be just left with the snow slope, then bump the yellows a lot and darken the shadows so the shot is purely about the light. @Ola_Jovall - Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and reactions to the image. I appreciate your honest feedback about the subject not moving you that much. I get it. Kind of why I wanted to post this to see how folks would interpret it. @David_Bostock - Thanks for the great feedback. Agreed depending on the crop you can do different things with the image. As shot, I didn’t want to go “full abstract” with it, so I included the bottom bushes and the upper left rocks. It may or may not work for everyone. I’ll play around with it a bit more and see if I can refine it a bit further to bring out more engagement and more of what I was feeling at the time. Yes, amazing trip and folks came home with a lot of great images and memories! A very successful workshop.
I waited until I had a bit more a clue before posting this exploded view.
I actually enlarged the image the other day just so I could see the area where the “Small bushes” are because I didn’t feel that they were bushes at all, I thought and still think they are trees, and many of them large trees.
It appeared to me that the bottom is a very long distance away and the bottom line of black is a road with the top dark line as a ridge in the distance.
There appears to be several structures with vertical lines that repeat too often to be nature, they must be manmade. I also see a few lights but only one stands out in such a prominent way.
I see several lines of fencing, some are probably snow fences but that is just pure guessing.
It looks like there is a fairly large reddish truck and a few orange road signs to the right as well.
Maybe there’s a whole community there or a small town or village?
Having looked at this very close, I feel that the mountain is massive based on the bottom area for scale.
Or, maybe my imagination has just completely ran off the rails!! :=D
Getting in to the details eh? :-). What’s funny, in a re-edit this morning I also zoomed in and took out some of the more noticeable man made elements, like the fencing. Yes, the mountain was huge! Those “bushes” at the bottom are in fact trees. The scale of the scene is hard to comprehend from the image but you got a sense of it seeing some of the man made stuff down below. I didn’t see the truck and no, I don’t think a village there. Perhaps a farm compound.
Whew! Just glad to know that my imagination hadn’t got the best of me, thank you for the confirmation!
Sometimes there’s fine line between reality and fantasy, and is the reason I don’t dabble in abstract art much! . (Well…that, and I’m not any good at creating abstracts! )
This has been a very interesting study in interpretation! One person’s mountain is another person’s mole hill - with golden colored snow, no less!!
Yeah, I do believe there’s a truck and orange road construction signs there as well. A farm compound sounds more likely now that you mention it.
. (Well…that, and I’m not any good at creating abstracts! )
