Kolob Dreams

[David_Kingham]

Project Description

I’ll kick off this new category! All of these images were taken the same morning, same viewpoint, but with constant shape-shifting light that kept me occupied for hours. I couldn’t quite achieve the mood I was going for in color, so these were all taken with an infrared-converted camera. You wouldn’t think infrared would make a difference on red rocks, but there was a subtle shift in tonalities that made all the difference in the world, plus the images with trees really came to life in infrared and black and white.

Project Images

Gallery Overview

Individual Images

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

Image 5

Image 6

Image 7

Image 8

Image 9

Image 10

Image 11

Image 12

Type of Critique Requested

• Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the project. Are there certain images that do not fit with the others? Is it cohesive?
• Conceptual: Feedback on the message and story conveyed by the project.
• Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the project.

Specific Feedback and Self-Critique

Help select the strongest images and tell me if there are any that don’t fit into the theme well. If there are any in the alternates that may fit better please let me know. I wanted to create a very mysterious, foreboding feeling, as if in a dream.

Intent of the project

LensWork Image Suite Submission

Additional Details: Brooks selected three of these images for last year’s Trilogies book, so I’m not sure if he would accept this or not, one way to find out!

Alternate Images

Please provide feedback on whether any of these images would fit more cohesively in the project.

[Allen_Brooks]

Critiquing this type of work is well above my pay grade. I will say I enjoyed them all, but for whatever reason, your Alternate #1 grabbed my attention the most and for me, did create a mysterious and foreboding feeling. Great work.

[Mike_Friel]

Like @Allen_Brooks, I’m not well qualified for this, but my gut reaction would be to replace Image 8 (too much “unforeboding” sky) with Alternate 2 (as I do prefer the shots with no sky; they seem more claustrophobic).

[Harley_Goldman]

To my eye, images 3 and 1 and to a lesser extent, 10 are not the most compatible candidates for the project. I would consider the alternates 4, 1 and 2 instead. That is based on feel and mood and the way they hit me.

[Merv (Mervin Rosenquist)]

Hi David,

I’ll bite

To me, the theme is set by the intimate views of the mountains with the sunlight highlighting specific areas (without the sky). It is a foreboding feel for the most part.

As I scroll though the images, the mood is pretty consistent until I see the images with a lot of sky, those images seem to break that mood for me, then the mood returns when I scroll to the images without the sky.

The images with a lot of sky don’t seem to fit into that theme IMHO.
Image #1 seems OK because the sky is so dark and minimal.
Images 5, 6 and 8 don’t seem to flow well with the others, they seem out of place and are “Mood Breaking” to me.
Those images would be a good set on their own though (along with Alternate Image #1).

So, Personally, I would use Alternate Images 2, 3 and 4 to replace images 5, 6 and 8.

I have to also say that the images themselves were all very well done including the images with the sky, your skill and passion shows!

Nice project!
A real pleasure to view!

[David_Haynes]

I think to make the project as cohesive as possible I would eliminate all of the images with the sky in them. That includes image 6 which is one of my favorites of the whole series. If you have more images with sky in them I would suggest that you consider doing two projects.
Image 1 could be cropped where there is no sky since it has sensational light striking the cliff faces. But if you don’t want to crop that one I would remove 1, 5, 6, and 8 as well as the first image in the alternates.
Of the alternates, my favorites in order are 2, 4, 1 although it has sky and 3.
Of the original 12 without sky, my least favorite is 3. The upper left corner bothers me a little bit but if you could crop out that very upper corner OR dodge that light area I think it would help with the balance. Image 9, 11 and 12 are sensational in every regard with 11 being my favorite of the whole set. And, I can’t forget about image 6 and image 8 as they are my 2 favorites of the sky images.
Killer set of images and a great and cohesive project idea.

[Lon_Overacker]

David,

First off, thank you so much for getting this new category created and off and running. It’s only appropriate you be the first entry! I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Next, I have to say that I’m not familiar with IR - other than to say I know what it is. For example, I have no idea this is straight IR OR was it then also converted to grey scale? Would the tone/hue be different in straight color was simply converted to b&w? Not being familiar, the tone/hue looks like it’s not straight grey scale. but that’s my ignorance to the process.

The results however, Excellent! My overall initial impression on the Project - would be the theme of “spotlight.” That is the consistent pattern and theme. It’s that moment in time of light striking - not just the landscape - but targeted elements in the landscape.

Based on that theme, and others have had similar points, a few of the images that don’t belong are the ones with sky/clouds. In addition Most of the images are captured with a longer focal length (or cropped?) while a couple are of the broader landscape.

I’m sure you’re keeping track of the numbers at home… and here’s my list of what the take out, what to add and leave in. I’m going with the assumption that 12 is the number you’re after. Oh, each and every image is wonderful and stands on it’s own right. But we’re talking about the big project picture… so here goes.

Favorites and keepers for sure: #9, #10, #11, #12, Alt #2, Alt#3, Alt#4. #11/#12 perhaps my favorite where #11 the spotlight on the trees and spilling down is fantastic. #10, the light is phenomenal here - the glow eminating from below and up is incredibly cool.

#2, #3, #4 and #7 are solid “spotlight” images that certainly belong. That gets the list to 11. Gonna have to include one with clouds. hmmmm.

Finally #1 fits the spotlight theme the best even though there’s a little sky - the clouds are not to relevent or distracting here.

I love the dramatic landscape, clouds and light in #6, but being it’s primarily about the landscape it would be a weak member to the themed project.

Those are my thoughts! I wish you great success in your submission!

Lon

[Bonnie_Lampley]

Well, first, they’re all compelling in their own way, so kudos on that!

I’m going to be the contrarian here and say that I think the images with sky do fit into your idea well. If I think “mysterious and foreboding”, dark angularity comes to mind. With that in mind, the dark skies work well for me because don’t we all view really dark clouds as foreboding? Here’s my thoughts. I went through them one by one, evaluating whether I thought they fit the theme and why or why not. (Hopefully, my comments meet the intent of project commenting and aren’t too specific on each image.)

Main 1: This one has the most mysterious and foreboding feel to me of all the images, even the alternates. The dark angularity of the rocks, the jagged mountain top, and that dagger of light really convey a foreboding mood.

Main 2: This one doesn’t fit so well for me. The amount of light coming in feels hopeful and the relatively smoothness of the main wall feels calming.

Main 3: This one could work, but it’s not quite there. Not sure why - maybe it’s the series of vertical columns that feel quite stable. This one doesn’t have as much tension, I think.

Main 4: This one really works. There’s lots of verticals, but we can see the jagged column tops. The light is minimal. I feels dangerous.

Main 5: This one works, also. Perhaps darkening the clouds in the URC? There’s some angular lines there that could be brought out. That little light shape on mid-way along frame right is distracting.

Main 6: This one works similar to Main 5, if the clouds were darkened a bit. Not sure about he pano format - it is strikingly different than the others. I can see why you wanted the pano, with that light running across the frame, but it might not work so well with the more squarish ones.

Main 7: This one doesn’t work as is - I think the mid tones are too light. It has great angularity and a rough texture.

Main 8: This one feels foreboding even with that light sky. Darkening the lightest clouds would make it even more so.

Main 9: I’m on the fence about this one. I think it’s the bright trees. The trees are signifying life for me - little beacons of hope in the darkness.

Main 10: Really works; maybe darken mid tones a touch?

Main 11: Not sure about this one. Nice angles up to the left, but this doesn’t have a foreboding feel for me. I think because that tree is lit up.

Main 12: This one’s not working for me. It has a majestic feel because of that strong central formation.

Alt 1: This one would really work if the lightest sky was darker.

Alt 2: Definitely works. Even though there’s lots of trees, they are +/- shadowed. Lots of nice angularity.

Alt 3: Not working. It’s way too bright even though it has nice angularity.

Alt 4: Not working so well. See comments on Main 2.

[Kerry_Gordon]

Oh, this is great, David. They are all wonderful images on their own but together they tell a much more nuanced story about morning, light, and wilderness. I think monochrome is a perfect choice for this series. That you made them all the same morning is a wonderful idea that I plan to steal some day .
That being said, my tendency would be to set up the order of the images differently. For example, I love image 6a but, two things - first, it is the only one of a different aspect ratio and, two, I believe it is in the wrong place. For me 6a is your set-up shot - it sets the context for the whole series so, I would place it first. I would also find a second one that also included sky and wider view, done in the same aspect ratio, ideally from near the end of the shoot (possibly even the same or similar setup as 6a but radically different light), to end the series.
As to the images themselves, I’m not crazy about image 2a as it doesn’t have the same “punch” as the others. That could conceivably be rectified through a little more contrast etc but as is, it feels a little out of place. As to the images that include the sky. I like image 5a but I’d probably place it closer to the beginning of the series or nearer the end. I think I would tend to do that with image 8 as well. Of the alternates, I really like 1b, though again, I’d probably place it either nearer the beginning or the end of the series.
So, in my mind, I see the series starting wide , moving in and then expanding out again. In my mind, that would be a way of telling the story more as you experienced it. My two cents, anyway.
Great work, David.
P.S. Looking at them all one more time, I’m seeing that you actually have a number of different aspect ratios. In a short series like this one, I’d be inclined to limit the different aspect ratios to two. Bouncing around, breaks up the visual connectivity. I tend to think of setting this up in the way you would if you printed all of these images and organized them by laying them out on the floor or a wall - i.e., which ones look well side by side and how do they support each other. Of course, just because that is a common approach to this sort of thing, doesn’t mean it’s “right”.

[Mark_Seaver]

David, when you say IR converted camera, I assume that means that there’s a visible wavelength blocking filter and no IR blocking filter. The details of the vis. blocking filter will make a major difference in how much red gets through to the sensor. The spotlight effect here is amazing and that spotlighting clearly seems to be the “subject”. My favorites are 6, 11, and the first alternate.

6. The drama in the sky of 6 is palpable and it’s reflected nicely in the rugged peaks below. I do wonder about a bit more detail in the sky along the left, middle edge, to extend the viewing interest closer to the edge.

7. Love the “spotlight” on the lone clump of trees and the fine sweep of the view coming in from the lrc. While the trees show nicely, I wonder if a bit more brightness in the slope behind them would make that an even more dominant part of the view.

Alternate 1) Another excellent sky setting off that strongly shaped, nicely lit peak. A crop from the left, would emphasize that peak even more.

You’ve got lots of good shots here, but those three stand out for me.

[Merv (Mervin Rosenquist)]

@David_Kingham

I wanted to create a very mysterious, foreboding feeling, as if in a dream.

Hi David,

I decided to give this another look and try to do better at my overall evaluation and suggestions.

Just please keep in mind that I don’t have any form of professional qualifications in providing critique on projects like this, my only resource is my own personal views as an observer.

You mention mysterious and dream but you also mention foreboding.
I’ve always understood foreboding to mean dread or fear, or the fear that something bad is about to happen.
Am I misunderstanding the meaning of foreboding?
If that really is the meaning of that word, might I suggest something like “Surreal” in place of “Foreboding”? Because to me, these images have more of a surreal, dreamlike and mysterious feel to them but that’s just my personal interpretation.

In my first evaluation I was having a hard time keeping track of all the images and how they all fit together is a series, so for this round, I downloaded all of them and put them into a word processor so I could view them all at once and be able to easily rearrange them in different ways.

In my new suggestion for arrangement, I think your alternate #1 works better for the first image because the light is still more isolated or targeted (spotlight?) and this one has the broadest view, then your original #1 has a slightly tighter view but still has the isolated highlights.
The way I arranged the rest of them were based on two things:

• One is the progressively perceived tighter view (from image 1 to image 12).

• And the other is the way the light is striking the rocks and trees, there is almost a change in diagonal direction of light even though the light is actually coming from the right in all of them.

I do like the dome shaped one for #12 because it seems like a Bookend IMHO.

Of course the arrangement was mostly based on my own selfish personal preference as well as some form of randomness but I’m sure that some could be arranged in many other ways with basically the same results.

The main thing I learned from this so far is that any future projects that I want to comment on, I will have to download all of the images and insert them into a word processor so I can view all of the images in a more objective way.

Anyway, that’s my second $.02 worth…the first $.02 don’t count

Edit: I put all of the images together into one jpeg image and it’s best to view it in full size (unless you have really good eyes ).

[Igor_Doncov]

I would remove #8 and replace it with one of the alternatives 2-4. I think the sky does work with the intimates but it has to be pretty dark (or mostly dark).

[David_Kingham]

All I can say is WOW. Incredible feedback and this is exactly what I envisioned for the category; fantastic!

Now, I have a confession to make. I intentionally didn’t put a lot of thought into this collection to see where things would go. I put in a mix of aspect ratios to see if that would get caught, etc. But I wasn’t too sure if the images with a sky should be included or not. I was surprised by how much this feedback has helped me to think more clearly about the vision and direction of this project, so thank you all for that! I’m so excited about the potential of this category and hope more people will participate!

I went through this time with more intention to make everything more foreboding by darkening several images, killing some off completely, and finding some new ones that may fit better. I’m going to leave two replies, one option with no sky, and another with skies included. I’ll be curious to hear opinions on this. But first, I have some questions to answer…

@Lon_Overacker

I have no idea this is straight IR OR was it then also converted to grey scale? Would the tone/hue be different in straight color was simply converted to b&w? Not being familiar, the tone/hue looks like it’s not straight grey scale. but that’s my ignorance to the process.

My camera is converted to with the Deep B&W ( 830nm), so there is very little color. I shoot in B&W in camera but still in raw, and then convert to B&W straight away. The color your seeing is toning I applied, just the slightest hue of red to give nice rich tones. Pure black and white feels kind of sterile to me so I use this often.

@Kerry_Gordon

That you made them all the same morning is a wonderful idea that I plan to steal some day

Please do Kerry! Looking forward to seeing it

@Mark_Seaver

The details of the vis. blocking filter will make a major difference in how much red gets through to the sensor.

Thanks Mark, that helps me understand it a bit more, but I never was good at wrapping my head around those sort of things!

@Merv

You mention mysterious and dream but you also mention foreboding.
I’ve always understood foreboding to mean dread or fear, or the fear that something bad is about to happen.
Am I misunderstanding the meaning of foreboding?

To be honest, I was having trouble describing my intent and was trying to get this out quickly. I’m not good with words, but I still think I’m going for foreboding and mysterious. I’m not sure dreamlike was the correct term to use.

Now, to the images, give me a few minutes…

[David_Kingham]

Here’s the first option, which has images with sky. I darkened the skies to make them moodier and less the center of attention.

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

Image 5

Image 6

Image 7

Image 8

Image 9

Image 10

Image 11

Image 12

[David_Kingham]

And here’s an option without skies…

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

Image 5

Image 6

Image 7

Image 8

Image 9

Image 10

Image 11

Image 12

[Kerry_Gordon]

All right, @David_Kingham, now you’re cooking with gas! I much, much prefer the first series with images that include the sky to the second series. Doing a small series like this one is a balancing act. On the one hand, the images have to support each other thematically and visually but, at the same time, they need to avoid being repetitious. I find in the second series that there is too much repetition, for example, images 2 and 4 and even images 10 and 12, 5 and 8 feel too close, which encourages me to rush through them. Not so with the first series. The images that include the sky are very much aligned with the series’ theme but open up the presentation and make the point of the series much clearer. That being said, I find image 2 and image 4 too similar to include them both (I’d eliminate #4). On the other hand, image 6 from the second series needs a place and I’d include it in the first series.

[Igor_Doncov]

I agree with @Kerry_Gordon’s assessment. The first project is richer in subject matter and more interesting as a whole. However, I find the highlights too strong in images 5 (maybe because they’re at edge of frame) and 3. Nah, 3 is fine. The two highlighted areas compete due to different intensities. Your best non-sky image is #8.

[Tony_Kuyper]

Two quick comments.

1. I really love seeing series of all types. Images that won’t necessarily look that great as a singleton, can often contribute quite well to a series. Some images are naturally stronger than others, but in a series, as long as each contributes to the theme, all images look better, IMO.

2. Would there be a way to project a grid view of the project instead of the scrolling gallery view? It would be easier to look at the scrolling gallery first and then switch to the grid in those situations where comments on specifically images might be warranted.

[rjWilner]

@David_Kingham

IMO, a photographic ‘project’ is, essentially by definition, a collection of related images. And an ‘artist statement’ is required to define the concept that ties them together. And that concept needs to be defined by the artist who owns the project.

You have an utterly wonderful collection of images included in this post. And they could all be critiqued individually per normal NPN practice easily enough. But until you provide some sort of guidance regarding the concept that you believe ties them all together, it will be difficult to critique the ‘project’. At this point in time, the ‘artist statement’ doesn’t need to sound like an intricate description of a thesis for a graduate degree in organic chemistry. It can evolve over time. But it does need a starting concept.

And that’s not to say there isn’t a ‘project’ (some folks prefer to refer to it as a ‘series’) that exists within this group of images. One common thread I see in some of the images is the way the sunlight strafes the rocky facades and highlights small, generally non-descript areas of those facades. But those small, highlighted areas become the ‘leading actor in a starring role’ precisely because the sunlight illuminating them has brought them to the viewer’s attention.

But that’s just one possibility I see at first glance. I have no idea what you were initially after when making the images. You might have an entirely different vision of what the project says.

[Kerry_Gordon]

@rjWilner - While I agree with everything you’re saying here I, nonetheless feel that @David_Kingham has stated the intention of this series when he says, “All of these images were taken the same morning, same viewpoint, but with constant shape-shifting light that kept me occupied for hours”. As far as I’m concerned that’s what I’m looking at where each image is, ostensibly, further informing the shape-shifting nature of light in the way that the terrain is constantly being transformed as the light moves across it. And that’s not something a single image could do. Naturally he could say more when he puts this series forward for publishing but for the purposes of this exercise, I feel he’s said enough for me to make a meaningful critique with respect to the series as a whole.