This is an image of the Jenne farm near Woodstock VT, reportedly the most photographed farm in the New England.
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
Conceptual: Feedback on the message and story conveyed by the image.
Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the image.
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 took this photo during a winter workshop and liked the leading lines from the corner. I’ve photographed it with more snow but I also like the texture of the grass coming through.
Hi Catharine, welcome to NPN. What a first outstanding image. I can see why it would be so photographed. A picture postcard perfect scene. I like the soft morning (I think) light on the hills and structures. Your placement of the structures in the frame is quite good too. Honestly, I can’t think of anything I would recommend changing. Just print it and enjoy.
I do get an emotional response, it reminds me of my grandparents farm up in Bellingham, Washington. I spent summers there growing up, and we regularly visited over the snowy holidays. It’s now a subdivision…oh well.
Anyway, welcome again, I know you’ll enjoy the site and our community. I look forward to seeing more of your work and also your contributions here as well.
Welcome to NPN Catharine! What a great looking place and with some really beautiful light! I’ll admit that I’ve never heard of Jenne Farm but it sure looks photogenic. Emotionally, this image feels very comforting, kind of like the feeling of home. I’m curious, do you know if anyone still lives there?
Welcome to NPN, Catharine! What a lovely first image. It’s very quintessential Vermont! It makes me homesick for the East Coast. I know you’ll love it here. I’ve been with NPN for 2 years and have learned so much. Looking forward to more of your work and to your feedback.
Welcome to NPN Catherine! What a gorgeous landscape image for your first post. I like David’s description, “picture perfect postcard.” And that’s a compliment because I could see this published in calendars, etc. etc. Of course in this part of the country, and you mention the most photographed… I expect this location has already had it’s share of published images… And I’ll say this, that should never deter you or anyone from creating and having their own interpretion.
You would be hard pressed to improve this! I love the clean whites of the snow. I suppose… and maybe I would if you were to print this, but consider cloning out the contrail. Not a big deal of course.
Thank you for sharing. We look forward to more of your images and your participation by commenting on other images as well. No reason to be shy, jump right in!
Hi Catherine, welcome to NPN and thank you for sharing this lovely image. There is a lot to like about it. Let’s face it, it’s downright charming. However, I do think it could be improved. I think it is important both in the field and when post-processing, to become a ruthless editor. It has been my experience that it makes for stronger images. What that means is removing everything from the frame, no matter how pretty or intriguing, that doesn’t directly add to your intention for the image. While you haven’t stated it explicitly, it would seem that this picture is about homeyness and safe haven. I think we can all imagine coming in from a brisk winter’s walk and sitting down by the homestead hearth. So, for me, what elicits that feeling are those buildings nestled in the hills and the beautiful low light around them. This is not one of those images that is about the man-made in an endless expanse. It isn’t about isolation, but about hearth and home. For that reason, it seems to me, a great deal of the expanse on the left side of the frame and a good deal of the sky at the top undermine the intention of the image and detract from the story the picture is about. For that reason, I would suggest cropping. I did a free-hand crop based on what worked to my eye and it turned out to be exactly a 16:9 crop. To my eye it feels “cozier”. You could clone out the bits of sky in the upper right corner but you get the idea.
Take a look and see what you think.
