Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.
Questions to guide your feedback
Is this so abstract as to leave the viewer lost and just asking “what is it?” or can it be enjoyed for exactly what it is—and abstract image.
Other Information
Please leave your feedback before viewing the blurred information below, once you have replied, click to reveal the text and see if your assessment aligns with the photographer. Remember, this if for their benefit to learn what your unbiased reaction is.
Image Description
I have photographed a great deal of ice over the years and this particular bit is among the most amazing ever. The freezing process was complex and resulted in a wide array of patterns.
Technical Details
Sony@6000, with zoom lens at 107mm. 1/200, f/11, ISO 4000 with adjustments to tone curves, dehaze, and sharpening and then cropped to 1:1
Specific Feedback
I am particularly interested in feedback about the visual appeal of the image as well as the place I got to with the adjustments to it
John, to answer your question, I don’t find it “too abstract” at all… I think it’s intriguing enough to keep the viewer looking around these perfectly round holes in the ice, and the curvy diagonal lines adds really nice textures. I’m just left wondering how this happens in nature, maybe the holes are formed from a slowly melting branch directly above that drips water into these particular spots…
I don’t have any critiques, but just wanted to say I enjoy the composition, and hope you enter it into the NLPA competition.
John, the strength of this image is the fact that I can get lost in it. The image prompts questions in my mind. I find it an engaging image especially the black circles. To me they resemble a habitat on another planet. You could even crop this a number of ways to further simplify the scene and make it more abstract. Wonderful job here.
This is a really cool scene, and I love the simple yet effective composition. I can’t quite tell for certain, but it seems like some color noise has been significantly introduced somehow? Could have been from ISO or from pushing the image too much. Maybe you increased texture or clarity substantially?
Thank you @Eric_Bennett for your thoughts. I had to go back to LR to check and, both texture and clarity are at zero! Some sharpening but not much impact. It was just a very unusual set of circumstances that caused a lot of “texture” in the ice itself, literally on several different levels. I believe, given that the ice formed over the shoreline rather than the main body of water, the dark circles were probably bubbles of methane that froze near the top.
Both! I love when abstract images surprise me and make me wonder what I am looking at. I might ask myself: what is that? But deep inside I enjoy not knowing. I enjoy the thrill of exploration. For my own images, I don’t like when people ask me what they are. I’d rather have them immerse themselves into the image and just enjoy and maybe find their own emotional access.
I could stare at your image forever. I have not looked at your description yet, but I know what it is. My brain knows, but that doesn’t matter. I enjoy it for its playful aesthetics, the way the soft curves cuddle the circles and the tiny orange leaves even add some more welcome tension. A wonderful image! Thank you for sharing!
