Living with giants

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
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Kristen_SmithApril 14, 2024_1001201.jpg
Kristen_SmithApril 14, 2024_1001201.jpg2500×1877 2.44 MB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

This is a typical view of the mountains on Hjørundfjorden in Norway. I didn’t transform many images to monochrome, but this one cried out for it. For some reason our boat captain didn’t want to just putter around and he was going quite fast so it was difficult for me to get this shot. Later he did slow for some things, but I guess he wanted to get us to our next stop on time. Silly! What drew me was not just the grandeur, but the lines of the rivers, slopes and the peaks.

This photo illustrates a couple of things that are pretty distinctive to this area of Norway - how close people live to nature & the way the mountains are right on top of you almost all the time. Unless you’re on an island or coming into the region from outside, the mountains are in your face and they loom large. Really large. That’s why I had to try for this shot - those houses & farm add so much scale and story. And yeah, they all pretty much have giant waterfalls in their backyards. This is probably an independent village as they go as small as just two people.

Specific Feedback

I had the wrong lens on for this (clearly), but couldn’t stop to change so did what I could, which meant really cutting off the water so I could get all of the mountain. Would you add more water with Gen Fill? I didn’t think it was needed, but I’ve been wrong before.

Technical Details

Handheld on a fast-moving cabin cruiser.

image

Lr for all processing - not cropped!! B&W conversion to standard Adobe profile, but tweaked in the basic panel. Several masks to manage luminosity transitions as well as other things like texture and dehaze to emphasize the low-lying clouds. Work in Curves and Color grading to lift mid tones a bit. Sharpening.

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Kristen, I agree with you about the monochrome choice for this wonderful picture. I found myself wishing for more brights and more darks to give it a bit more pop. I see you did a lot of work on the luminosity. I used the brightening/contrast adjustment to brighten the whites a bit and increase the contrast. Then I burned the water line and used a gradation filter to tone down the very top of the frame. This may take it away from the more subdued mood you had in mind. Just my thoughts on a picture taken on a trip that is on my wish list.

Kristen_SmithApril 14, 2024_1001201
Kristen_SmithApril 14, 2024_10012012500×1877 1.08 MB

3

Thanks @Barbara_Djordjevic - I have been a bit conservative in my monochrome conversions lately, maybe too much.

4

Chris, Thanks for this post from Norway. You certainly succeed in showing how closely people live to nature - a great theme and story for the image. We are not going to make Norway this year due to some family obligations . You likely know about Tony Kuyper’s Magic Mixer plugin for TK9 that does a great job with B&W conversions. You may want to give it a try, although I think the image succeeds as it is.

5

Thanks @Larry - sorry you won’t make it there right now. Hopefully you can reschedule. I thought about using the Magic Mixer, but my experience with it is limited and, at least to me, works most efficiently/spectacularly with colorful photos to start with, which this one is not. So going the traditional way worked for me.