The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I’m just now getting around to processing some of my recent landscape/abstract images from Yellowstone and the Tetons from a couple of months ago. This is from the Grand Prismatic Spring on my first day in the park. It was one of only two days that I focused on abstracts and landscapes although while out shooting wildlife, I had the opportunity to grab a few landscape images on the fly. The GPS is an otherworldly hot spring with incredible water and bacteria colors if the sun is at least partly shining. I was fortunate to get the sun but the wind was really blowing this day.
This is really an incredible area to grab abstracts as well as very colorful bacterial mats right on the surface. All of what you see here is actually under a thin film of water about an inch or less deep. There are naturally forming stair steps and what look like fissures all over the place here. The formation captured in this image reminded me of tree roots. Let me know if you see the same thing or something entirely different.
Specific Feedback
The colors here are just as photographed. I thought about adding some blue tones in the lighter off white areas as there are some naturally looking blues in them but I thought I would stick to how it really looks…maybe a mistake? This image was hand held as there were just too many people to work a tripod. It’s by far the busiest I’ve ever seen the park and all of my previous trips have been in the midst of summer. The parking lot was full and I had to park about a 1/2 mile away on the side of the road because of all the people. Pretty insane.
Anyway, let me know your thoughts on this and if you can see any corrections that could be made to make this image better. As always, thanks for taking the time to have a look.
Technical Details
Z7ii, 24-70mm lens @ 66mm, 1/60th hand held, f/14, ISO 125, manual exposure
My first thought was tree roots too, David. I particularly like the way they draw the eye into this abstract scene.This has a nice balance of warm and cool colors and looks just fine for my tastes.
I hear you on the crowds of people. I frequent state parks and they are no different with the hoards. It does seem like they thin out around meal times.
I really like the composition here! It is more pleasing than the top-down view of the entire spring that we are all used to seeing.
As for whether or not to add blues, I like the image how it is. I have seen too many images of the spring with overly saturated colors. The natural beauty of nature is what makes nature beautiful. There is no need to push it any further.
Beautiful image! Well done. The composition and colors are spectacular. My only nit is that it is a bit soft. Maybe a bit more sharpening. I understand the hand held problem you had…Even soft, it is a wonderful photo.
Great image David. I actually see three images here - one of the tree trunks, one of the abstract on top and the one you posted of the tree trunks leading to the smaller branches abstract. Love all three! I think the bit of softness adds to the abstract nature of the photo, but then, I love soft abstracts.
This is wonderful, outstanding! Tree roots, tributaries… an aerial? So many ways to interpret this. And such a great job isolating and composing this.
The lead-in of the “roots” going from bottom to top just works wonderfully. And leading to that top 20%, I see some abstract rendition of the Painted Hills (not sure why other than the banding color palette…)
Beautifully processed - Love the colors. And I think you nailed it!
No nits or suggestions. AND one of the few tall, digital formats that actually comes across very pleasingly. Beautifully seen and captured.
First off, Happy Holidays to everyone. I know everyone is busy this time of year so I want to thank You @Ed_Lowe , @kyle , @Tony_Siciliano , @robertakayne and @Lon_Overacker for taking the time to have a look see and comment.
There is some question of softness and I am not sure if it’s the running water that covers the entire ground at GPS or if it’s actually soft. Either way, it does appear a little soft although I can’t remember if I even sharpened this or not. A lot of landscape images I do not sharpen so I will go back and take a look and if I can get this sharper, I will repost.
I’m glad you like the natural look. I will not add any blue hues or saturation to this.
Lon, I too am not a lover of the 3x2 aspect ratio in portrait view…at all! However, when I composed this, I filled the frame and when I got home I really didn’t want to crop off the top or the bottom so I was stuck with the full frame and although I don’t love the aspect ratio of this, I think it works. Thanks for your thoughts. Glad you like it.
Happy Holidays!
Fascinating image. There is a lot to study here. Normally I avoid composition that are part vertical and the other part horizontal but it works here. In fact, it makes the image even more interesting. I can’t comment about saturating the blues without seeing how it would look. Personally I feel no compunction to make an abstract look like the object it represents. Congrats. I do feel this image deserves an editors pick. It’s quite unique and creative.
David: I’m late to this party but what a wonderful image! I’ve been to the GPS a number of times and like you find the abstract possibilities almost unlimited. This is wonderfully seen and composed IMO. Congrats on a very well deserved EP/>=))>
I will leave the colors alone and I will also try and sharpen this one up a little bit.
Bill, as you know, there are endless possibilities for abstracts in the park. I only spent 2 days doing landscapes and abstracts and next time I will definitely spend way more time shooting these abstracts.
