The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical
About This Image
Our first full day in Iceland, in Kerlingarfjoll. We only spent one day here. I could have spent several. The photographer in the foreground was part of our workshop. We joked that he was in more photographs on that trip than anyone because as soon as we got out of the van, he was running into the scene. At least his jacket wasn’t light blue. I wanted to buy him a red one though.
Feedback Requested
I’m mostly sharing to participate in the weekly challenge. I took the image 7 years ago, and it (or a similar one with the guy on the ridge) actually made it onto the cover of Craft and Vision magazine (David DuChemin’s publication back in the day).
Always open to any and all feedback, especially your initial reaction when seeing the image. I have a landscape orientation, one without sky. Lots of crops and several slightly different frames. Highly recommend this area of the Icelandic highlands.
Technical Details
Canon 5DIII with 24-105mm at 35mm
ISO 125, f/10, 1/100s
Great photo. I love the colors of the rocks, the geothermal smoke and the glacier. The geological formation is also very cool and really works well in the photo.
I just love this. Your photographer in the foreground is the icing on the cake. He adds the scale this place deserves. Zoomed in it’s interesting to see the bridge and steps and the blue jacketed person. The colours and textures are great and remind me of an acrylic painting. Stunningly beautiful.
Marylynne: Whtat @Glenys_Passier said although I’m not quite ready to take up knitting. Iceland is on my bucket list and this image pushes it higher. The photographer is indeed a nice touch as is the bridge and trail. A marvelous find and an even better image.>=))>
I think my initial reaction is an interesting one. Let me see if it makes sense to you or anyone. Of course the first view and impression is from viewing the thumbnail - first on the gallery page, then opening the thread. This first impression I was struck by the geology of it all - the shapes, forms, colors - and including the geo-thermal gas, the glacier and even the complimentary blue in the bit of sky. Then finally the small thing - or figure caught my eye and I had to click on the larger view. Then all of a sudden, the image transformed in to the human side of this famous geologic site. The photographer of course tells a big human interest story (yeah, didn’t he get the red jacket memo?!!!) The all the natural forms are interrupted with first the bridge, then the steps and then finding myself following them all - discovering more humans! Not a bad thing really, but for me the image transformed from a natural, geologic story, to geologic story, with the human element. And lastly, is that a cross on that pile of rocks in the LRC? That has me curious!
All in all this is a fantastic image telling a couple of great stories. I have no nits or suggestions. I’m glad you shared this!
Aside from a fantastic image, it is fascinating, especially when viewed at the largest view. The hiking trails (steps), sign post (probably what looks like a cross), bridge, more than one person, what appears to be a green tent and the amazing geological formations. Wonderful!
What strikes me is how painterly this looks. Due to the rich nature of the earth this looks like paint being applied by modern painting (Impressionism or later). That’s color applied in bold large patches. Yes, the man gets in the way a bit. The interesting part is above the bridge. It’s a wonderful image. I’d be proud of it. The snow is interesting because it looks like a shape, a layer over the brown. The image has a 2 dimensional look to it somehow. Yes, a bit like an abstraction of nature.
Marylynne, there’s a fine painterly quality to the colors in this view. Then, in the large view, there are so many details to explore. To me, those details are what create a picture worth hanging because you can go back and look again and again, finding new details as you explore the view.
Thanks, Everyone. I think the green tent might be two people, and green must have been all the rage in 2019, as the group at the end of the trail has a similar green jacket.
I have one of cyclists going down the ridge on the right. While the waterfalls of Iceland are spectacular, this was by far my favorite location.
First off, congrats on making the cover of the magazine as that is always a thrill and a wonderful accomplishment. As others have already mentioned this does have a painterly feel to it. I just love the arrangements of colors as well as numerous elements; photographer, bridge, mist, steps, etc; in this image.This had to have been a trip of a lifetime as it has been on my bucket list; that and New Zealand as well as the Northern Lights; for quite some time. I have nothing for suggestions as this is beautifully done.
Thanks Ed. I felt honored by the cover publication. Not a huge circulation, but still.
Several folks mention the painterly quality, and looking at it now, it all looks a bit soft, but I remember at the time thinking it had something to do with the landscape itself: colors, scale, lack of texture in the flora—insofar as there was flora.
I might take another stab at processing given some newer LR features.
Here’s the cover. It’s actually the other frame with the photographer up on the trail. NPN’s @Kerry_Gordon was in this issue too!
Hi Marylynne, I certainly do remember this photograph and I’m as impressed with it now as I was then.
That was a very exciting issue for me too. But aside from my star moment, what I remember most about that issue was the incredible quality of the photographs in the final segment called “Featured Gallery - from the Community”. There were about 40 photographs in that section and every one, yours included, an absolute gem. Just today, I went back and looked at them again and my opinion hasn’t changed in the least. Craft and Vision was David’s baby and though short-lived, it both encouraged and inspired so many of us.
A very pleasing image with depth and the tiny human figure to give a sense of scale.
Excellent and detail. I’m assuming this is in Iceland
A beautiful country with rich Scenery and many geothermal areas such as this one depicted here. And For the Record, this image with the figure to give scale really makes a difference.
My first reaction to this is a color explosion. The burnt siena, browns and greens along with the shockingly white snow just burst into my retinae. The lines in the lower portion of the image work really well to lead the eye through the scene and the steam tells of an active geology in the area. The photographer in the foreground gives this image scale and depth.
Really though, this looks like a watercolor painting. I love the composition that you’ve settled on and shared with all of us. Yeas, I think there are lots of other cropping choices but what you’ve presented here is sensational and a feast for the eyes. I can see how it garnered the cover of Craft and Vision Magazine. You should be very proud of this one, Marylynne.
Mark_Seaver
(Mark Seaver)
selected this as an Editor's Pick
15
This view is special because it has some fine colors, a strong sense of depth and lots of details to explore.
