Eliot Porter is never far from my mind when composing images. The man’s been a great influence on me, without a doubt. This was taken along the banks of the Coeur DeLane River where my son was pursuing cutthroat trout. I didn’t post this for a year thinking it second rate. But this morning I decided it wasn’t too bad and therefore I’m posting it. I’m still not convinced of it’s merit but all those lines and texture have an appeal.
D810, 24-70mm Tamron.
rework:
This does indeed evoke thoughts of Eliot Porter. I find this very attractive and, while busy, not chaotic at all. What becomes obvious after even a glance, is how carefully this was composed, and I don’t know how much post-processing you did, but it’s also evident that the scene itself was either deliciously varied in hues and shades or either you processed them in that way, but regardless of which it was, it works beautifully. I wonder if some might suggest a small crop off the bottom, but I would suggest to leave it exactly as it. This is a masterful image IMHO.
Igor,
This immediately jumped out to me as your work, and certainly not in the second rate category. I agree with Bill, this has a lot going on, but it is not chaotic. It is complex and cohesive IMO. My first reaction was that the tree on the left edge should be cropped, but the more I considered that, I decided your choice to include it was very important to the composition. Thanks for posting this one, wonderful work!
Igor: Decidedly not second rate. The range of textures and colors is superb. There is so much to explore in this scene. Well seen, captured and presented. >=))>
Igor, this is it ! Color, shapes , lines. In a composition just as it is! Without I think to many rules.
And thank you for naming Eliot Porter.(interesting for me ).
Eliot Porter was the Slow and Contemplative Photography Movement, before there even was such a Movement. And your homage to Eliot Porter shows careful attention to detail. My initial reaction to this was the same as @Alan_Kreyger, at first the tree along the left edge bothered me, but the more I looked at it, the more I realized how much it was needed. There is a lot going on here, but as usual Igor you have made it all work together. I also love how you have so many different elements draping downwards, it adds some graceful elegance to the image.
Lovely, Igor. The colors are rich, but not garish. The composition has a nice shape. I, too, noticed that little tree on the left. I don’t think you could crop it out without ruining the overall composition.
@Bonnie_Lampley, @Bill_Fach, @Ed_McGuirk, @Ben_van_der_Sande, @Bill_Chambers, @Alan_Kreyger
I wonder if you could take a second look at this. When I started to print, the moss on the left felt like it was competing with the vine. They have similar colors and tones. So I kept darkening the moss and printing until I ran out of paper (lol). I posted both and the difference is obvious but is it an improvement?
It darker moss actually does improve the balance, because you have that really dark brown patch on the right.
Igor,
I think the rework is an improvement. The darker moss creates a little more contrast with the leaves, and as @Bonnie_Lampley mentioned it helps with the balance as well.
I’m undecided, Igor. I agree with @Bonnie_Lampley that the rework does improve the balance, but I like the brighter moss. I think if the right side moss was brightened instead of the left side darkened, it would still be balanced.
For printing I would like the rework, prints are less forgiving. For web display on a good monitor, I prefer the original, brighter moss. Now that doesn’t help much, does it?
The thing that concerns me is how that ivy stands out. If it stands out too much it starts to look manipulated, contrived. I think in b&w I could get away with it and even benefit from such a boost this isn’t that type of image. It needs to be in balance with the other components.
So that’s my issue. Sometimes the plant looks like it’s artificially popping and at others it doesn’t. I think that perhaps it seems that way because I’m comparing the two. If there was only the rework it might not seem that way. But you’re right that ‘pop’ doesn’t look so obvious in a print.
Hi Igor,
This fits for an EP tribute piece. Colors are vibrant but not overly saturated. Your rework has richer colors, but I like the first version better. It has a film captured feel to it. This image is also different from other landscapes is that there are no strong or dominant features of the landscape that snags the eye. Which makes this different and provides a very complex composition to examine. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Well done…Jim
