Simplified version using Remove tool in Ps and a change in crop and I lightened the trees in the ULC and lowered the opacity of the masks in a couple areas -
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I’m not deliberately trying your patience with odd views and slices, but I’m curious as to what you all make of this scene looking down to the Prairie river from the edge of the woods.
Oblique views are difficult, but what attracted me was the log bridge in the middle. From some magical quality of water and air temperature, the ice on top of it is flat as though it’s a manmade bridge. I didn’t walk on it, but various critters like otter, mink and squirrels use it pretty regularly. You can see sheets of ice broken off on the far shoreline and I think that echos nicely. I also like the geometry of the bridge and the upright trees. To emphasize all of that I went with a B&W conversion rather than leave it in the admittedly muted color version.
Specific Feedback
How does it strike you? Does it have cohesion and flow? Too weird? Thoughts about processing welcome, but alas, there is no snow and probably very little ice left, so I can’t try again right now.
Technical Details
Handheld
Lr for all processing including the monochrome conversion, a more horizontal crop, work with masking to even luminosities and emphasize the bridge, some distraction removal, but I left a lot of the footprints which are mine.
It’s interesting Kris, that the first thing I noticed is the two trees hugging in the foreground. One wrapped in snow and the other nearly naked and exposed.
I do love the log bridge but I still find that I’m attracted to those two foreground trees and their intimate pose together. I love the B&W processing instead of a muted color version. I think that the tree trunks in the ULC are rather dark and pull my eye quite a bit and I think if you could dodge those it wouldn’t feel so heavy up there. Also, that little branch that cuts in front of the two intimate trees is sort of annoying in a whimsical kind of way, but removing it might require a bunch of work in photoshop and I am NOT a PS expert in the least but it seems like it would be a daunting task.
There are lots of verticals and horizontals crossing each other and normally that makes for a busy and chaotic scene and while this has some chaos to it, it’s not super distracting and it makes the viewer gaze at the image edge to edge and top to bottom to gather it all in.
Hi Kris,
I like your photo. A nice calm snowy day to enjoys the outdoors. The contrast between the snow covered tree trunk and the naked tree truck adds to the story of the photo. I agree with most of David’s assessment. My eyes are pulled to the foreground trees, so the dark trunks in the ULC doesn’t bother me. I would consider cloning out the limb coming in from the URC.
Oh, nice job with the snow. It’s something that I haven’t got the hang of yet
Its hard to give C&C without sounding critical, to a cold snow scene when I’m sitting here in bayside Brisbane sweating; everything sticky to touch with passing coastal showers and 80+% humidity but…
I like the scene, the aspect and the B&W treatment. What I think distracts from the image too much is the scrappy foreground (twigs, footprints) and the foliage far L & R, but I’m not sure you could do much about it, other than using a lower camera position.
Kris. This is certainly a chaotic scene. From the footmarks and small grasses in the FG, to stray branches intruding from the remaining sides. Yet the way the snow rests on the foliage and trees showcase why snow is so magical and nature so resilient. So, for me, that is what the image is about, so I say, embrace the chaos.
I do find, however, that the central part of the bridge to the left of the hugging trees is too bright. It really pulls my eye and although I realise it is a critical element of the composition I don’t feel by toning it down more inline with other highlights will reduce its impact.
Chaos is part of landscapes like these, so I hesitate to make them too static by overuse of the remove/clone tools, but I did go a little further with the newest edit so let me know if the balance has been struck. The footprints I left in because I felt it wouldn’t match the otherwise natural scene to take them out. The snow would have been too featureless for me.
I believe I did get lower to frame this, but lost the separation of the bridge and the water too much to make it work. I think the bands of light and dark that progress through the frame help give it rhythm and flow.
Snow is a tough one if you underexpose, which is to say follow what the meter tells you. I always overexpose by at least a stop, sometimes two depending on the light. Another useful thing is when editing, change your workspace frame to white instead of a shade of gray or black. It’s a great measure of what pure white is so you can more faithfully reproduce the snow.
I like the Tone and Vibe in your image. White , Grays and Black
Black and White photography is my favorite style. I think you captured a beautiful setting !!!
Being critical in and of itself isn’t a crime here. It’s part and parcel of what we do and the only way to get better, so don’t be afraid to tell it like it is. I think you did so in a constructive way that wasn’t at all negative or insulting. We all have our different viewpoints, opinions and tastes and that’s what makes the conversation here so productive.
