Lone Stump

Image Critiques Landscape Critiques
1

864A3599 Lone Stump.jpg
864A3599 Lone Stump.jpg1436Ă—2000 2.59 MB

864A3233 Lone Stump.jpg
864A3233 Lone Stump.jpg1495Ă—2000 2.34 MB

Lone Stump with morning sun

864A3622 Lone Stump 2.jpg
864A3622 Lone Stump 2.jpg1437Ă—2000 2.98 MB

Lone Stump no leaner

Critique Style Requested: Standard

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

Description

When Hurricane Helene came through my area, one of my favorite locations was hit pretty hard. Within a couple of weeks, though, a crew went in and cleaned out all the fallen trees and mulched much of ground cover. One morning I was there and noticed this one stump that wasn’t cut all the way to the ground. It was a sunny morning, so there was a lot of contrast and bright highlights (second image). So, I went back on a clouding morning to see if it would look cleaner. First and third images. I wanted to show the ground up wood all over the place.

Specific Feedback

The images are in the order I like best. But I am not sure about the leaning tree on the right. At first I liked it for the idea other trees were affected. But it might be too distracting. And the second has the highlights that might take away from the feel. Looking for ideas on the one that might tell the best story. (And this will likely be part of a larger project about the aftermath of the storm.)

Technical Details

All with Canon R 24mm-240mm
1st: ISO 400, f/8, 1/10 sec, 123mm
2nd: ISO 800, f/7, 1/30 sec, 134mm
3rd: ISO 400, f/9, 1/10 sec, 105mm

Critique Template

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2

That stump, and the way it is catching light, is unique, and I love the “story” the image is telling. I prefer the second image, because the light catches in a way I find compelling, and the dark background holds a bit of mystery. The diagonal branch doesn’t concern me much; it adds a nice framing effect to that stump.

1 Like
3

Hi Patrick,
I too like the second version for pretty much the same reasons that @John_Williams already mentioned. The soft subdued light in that one makes the image for me and the tighter crop still tells the story you were looking to convey without the wood chips strewn about. My only suggestion would be to tone down the brightness of top of the stump ever so slightly as it tugs my eye just a little. BTW, the leaning tree does not bother me either. Very nicely done!

1 Like