Another water abstract from a morning spent wading in my favorite nearby creek. Since it was burned over, it’s not as nice as it used to be, but there are tiny scenes to be seen. The stark black and white lines in the ripples are reflections of burnt trees (with and without bark, hence the b&w). There is a bit of greenery, too, though. The different texture at the bottom of the frame is from a submerged rock.
Specific Feedback Requested
Does the different texture at the bottom detract from the scene? Any other c/c/ is welcome.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
a7r3, 54mm, f/4, 1/800s, ISO 2500
Before even reading your requested feedback, I was going to say that the upper 2/3 really works for me, but the lower 1/3 really isn’t. So that is my feedback as requested. I quite like the colors, shapes and patterns in the upper area.
Bonnie,To me the bottom part brings more life in your image. I think I have to call it “balance”. It’s a beautiful image in color and form. Well made !
I actually welcome the color variation at the bottom of the image. The yellow goes really well with the cyan that dominates the upper right triangular area of the image.
More of a general question regarding this type of shots, Bonnie: Do you generally shoot this straight down? If not, how do you generally deal with focusing? When I study your images of this kind sharpness is generally not a big deal. Is that right? I tend to think too much about getting the entire frame sharp with a higher f-stop when I see something like this and the nI lose sight of what is important.
This has been a week for good landscapes at NPN, hasn’t it? This is a great image.
I find that when people ask a question like this they already know the answer. They know they have a problem and want to know how bad is it.
The answer is that yes, the fuzzy yellow in the lower center doesn’t go well with the rest of your composition. I see this as a Van Gogh sky over a town or trees. From that point of view a crop would not be a good idea.
However, there is a more abstract composition here that is very nice. I suspect that this is so different from what you were after that it’s not acceptable.
Oh, you’re so right, Igor. Only I think it is that they hope the answer is different than they suspect. I really didn’t have a grand vision for this - I do like your crop without the fuzz.
Adhika, I try to focus as straight down as possible, if the reflections are good in that orientation. And I, too, tend to try to stop down to get more in focus, but that often means really jacking up the ISO, which I don’t like to do. It’s a dilemma. For this one, I deliberately opened up as far as the lens would go and had to increase the ISO so I could get that faster SS. And it was still really dark - I had to really bring up the exposure in processing.
Great eye to catch this, Bonnie. This a great abstract, and there’s absolutely no way to tell what it is; photo, painting, computer-generated.
I agree with those that have said the lower section detracts from the image, and I love Igor’s crop. It focuses the image into a cohesive whole, and simplifies the color palette.
Bonnie, I give you a solid A for the creative vision and execution of this image, but @Igor_Doncov gets an A+ for his suggested crop, his rework takes this up a notch for sure. My eye could spend a long time just wandering around all the shape sand colors, it’s simply wonderful.
I like the abstract composition. It actually reminds me of viewing something under a microscope. I’m a bit torn about the bottom third of the frame. For me I don’t so much mind the different texture, it’s just that it has more of a blurry appearance as compared to the crisp lines in most of the upper 2/3 of the image.
