Image Description
This is one of my absolute favorite places to go hiking/rock climbing. It’s a satisfying climb with wonderful views. Also I’ve had some really awesome animal encounters/vultures riding the thermals and gliding by really close, lizards sunning and doing pushups on the rocks, hearing coyotes in the distance…,
Type of Critique Requested
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Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
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Conceptual: Feedback on the message and story conveyed by the image.
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Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the image.
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Technical: Feedback on the technical aspects of the image, such as exposure, color, focus and reproduction of colors and details, post-processing, and print quality.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I realize this could probably have been better with a shorter lens and better light. But I always would only climb up with my camera strapped around me with my 70-300 lens for animals. If I could go back I would do it differently and more deliberately. Maybe this is just an image I like because it reminds me of being there…
Technical Details
Nikon D3400, 70mm, ISO 100, 1/1000 (always ready for a vulture!) , f6.3
Minimal process in Pixelator Photo for IPad. Also did a pano crop to take out some of the dark foreground hill and the dull overcast sky
3 Likes
I love this pano image, Vanessa. The mountain layers are beautiful and the mist gives it a peaceful feeling. The calm river with some ice floating let’s you know it’s still winter. I also think your processing is wonderful. I really like the blue tint. I want to be standing there with you. This is just a crazy little thing that I see that stands out and brings my attention to it. About a third of the way in from the left side on the near top of the second mountain just past a rectangle grassy field, there is another small rectangle that looks like it’s outlined in black. It’s very small, but it just sticks out for me. I think that a closer shot might lose the beautiful lines of the mountains, but it would give you a good excuse to go back up there 
. Very nice!!!
1 Like
Thanks, @Donna_Callais for your feedback and I’m glad you like it! That rectangle thing is just a building. There’s actually a lot of buildings in the shot. I had tried getting rid of them but it didn’t end up looking natural. When I lived near there I did that climb almost everyday, hope I do get to get back there sometime. It’s only 3,000 miles away now! 
Vanessa, this has an old-timey feel to it. I really like it. I think it looks great in B&W too. It feels really nostalgic to me. Well done.
Cheers,
David
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Thanks so much @David_Bostock! I kind of thought it looks like an old worn out photo too! That’s pretty much what the original image looks like minus the crop. Glad you like it!
Hi Vanessa,
I have to say a quick aside that it’s absolutely fine to take pictures for your own pleasure. You carry a lot of context that goes alongside an images that completely alters the way its perceived for you that nobody else will get. Don’t dismiss images because of this.
The image has a lovely and evocative feel, it’s almost like a cyanotype in the toning and I can see why you like climbing in the area. It also has a definitely wintry feel to it and so the treatment is very successful.
In terms of composition, you’ve done a great job creating a sense of balance across the frame. The land on this side of the river on the bottom left is a great balancing counterpoint to the main mass of the cliff opposite with the rocky outcrop (and what looks like more fun slab climbing on it!).
Would it do well in a competition? Probably not because we lose a lot of the connotations you bring with it from your experience and it becomes a very well taken snapshot of a moment in time.
Would I hang it on my wall if that was my local climb? Absolutely yes! Do I think you could take a better image of the location - I probably doubt it to be honest. You could get more ‘normal’ sunset or sunrise light and make it look more ‘Hudson River School’ but it would probably be less your ‘Hudson River’. Also, you’ve created something that looks original from a subject that may not be as photogenic as most people would like.
Would I think this would do well if it were submitted as part of a project reflecting your experiences here combined with different photographs showing different light, locations, angles, original material etc. Absolutely!!
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Thanks so much @Tim_Parkin for your awesome feedback on this! I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to look at all of the submitted images and give helpful critique on them. I learned a lot from reading your comments. As far as my image goes you make me excited about doing some kind of a project. I’ve been wanting to do a seasonal project of a place or project of some sort. I’ll have to try to explore the possibilities of where I am now (in Oregon) maybe with hopes of someday getting back out East to do the Hudson Highlands region which will always be close to my heart.
Thanks so much for giving of yourself in this way! Your work is inspiring and I so appreciate your knowledge and sharing it! Take care!
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@Vanessa_Hill - I didn’t realize you are in Oregon, my home state! Heading out east along the Columbia River Gorge you’ll find lots of scenes like the one you shot. I’m glad you have this keeper image of happy memories.
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Hey Mark! I knew you were somewhere out this way. For some reason I thought California. I was in Corvallis for 2 years and just last August my husband and I moved to Lakeview, which we really like the drier, colder, sunnier climate over this way! I’m looking forward to having more time to practice shooting this scenery which is very different. Is the Columbia River Gorge near Portland?
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I grew up in the Portland area. Now I live in So. Calif.
Yes, the Columbia River Gorge is by Portland, separating Oregon and Washington. Going East the landscape becomes dry (and hot in Summer) and really interesting. Your image reminded me a little of it.
