The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
The twisted remains of an old mangrove. Mangrove islands are so important for the flora and fauna of islands and always have such cool shapes to them. This was taken in the Ten Thousand Island Wildlife Refuge in Florida. After a long day of kayaking and visiting various mangrove islands. The way the seaweed drips off the old mangrove really caught my eye.
Specific Feedback
I converted this to black and white to help highlight some of the gnarls and twists in the trunk. I have this cropped to be a bit more open, but sometimes I crop it more portrait to put the mangrove more front and center. How does this crop work for you?
Interesting subject matter. I also like the seaweed. The B&W processing looks good, except the sky is a little noisy. I feel the wider crop would look a little better if the leading line of the trunk was leading the eye to the crepuscular rays on the right instead of the empty area on the left, so I would probably crop a little off the left. JMHO of course.
The black and white conversion works well and adds atmosphere to the scene, almost like a weather front moving in across the horizon. It also suits the twisted shapes and textures within the mangrove.
To my eye, the image appears slightly noisy by today’s standards, although that may simply reflect the equipment and software available at the time.
Compositionally, I feel the trunk may work better either more centrally placed or slightly further left, allowing the eye to follow the branches extending towards the right side of the frame more naturally.
Very Cool Image I like the simplicity and tone. I think the sky looks cool and the image works great in B&W… Has a film vibe to it… Really a nice Image !!!
Hi Jay,
Great Shot and the B&W is really giving a mood sense.
The cloud background is quite noisy and may need to have some denoising apply to further increase the impact of this dramatic sky.
It also seems like that some sun rays are showing through the clouds. Darkening a little the clouds may bring back these sunrays and add a deeper impression of the moody atmosphere.
I like the dark shore in the background breaking the horizon and clearly separating the water and the sky.
Good job overall on this moody B&W water shot
There is a great deal of tonal richness in this image and in that sense this is a really beautiful image. However, a lot of compositional rules have been broken here. I don’t know your level of expertise in photography and therefore whether these rules were purposely broken. The NPN resource page has a reference to a really good book on composition if you are interested:
Jay: I like the subject and your processing especially. The two compositional issues that I notice is the horizon right in the middle of the frame and the top of the stump merging with the shoreline. A slightly higher angle keeping the stump in the water and perhaps even high enough to get the further branch below the horizon line would suit me better. The branch exiting the right side is another small item. All of these nits are pretty trivial but keep this in mind when faced with similar scenes. >=))>
Thanks for the feedback! Paying more careful attention to the whole scene as opposed to just the subject is definitely a goal of mine I really like the idea of getting the entire stump in the water with the horizon farther up in the frame. Thanks!
