Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Looking over tall meadow grass toward the forest beyond.
Specific Feedback
I can’t decide if I like this one or not, and whether it holds up as a photo? Also I noticed that bringing up the dehaze slider in LR brought out the red colors which weren’t very apparent before, not sure how this works?
Technical Details
Canon 5D mk iv, 264 mm (100-400mm + 1.4x), 1/10 sec with ICM, f40, ISO 400. Processed in LR and Topaz DeNoise.
I like the degree of motion, Michael, but it feels like it would work better if it weren’t quite so evenly divided between meadow and forest. Minor nit: To me this seems like it needs the tiniest bit of clockwise rotation.
I have no clue why dehaze would bring out the reds, but they’re kind of cool.
Thanks Dennis, I’ll try out those suggestions.
New version incorporating Dennis’ suggestions. I don’t have any more green above, so I cropped from below, and straightened a bit.
I like this, Michael. The colors and tell a story here all on their own to anyone who has encountered this scene.
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Hi Michael, welcome to NPN! I like the applied motion and colors in the image with the vertical lines in the grass. The dehaze slider moved to the right tends to increase contrast and saturation. Your settings for ICM looked fine to me.
I agree with Dennis about cropping the image so it’s not so symmetrical. Since the image is about colors and shapes, you could also try rotating or flipping the image. No right or wrong with this type of abstract.
You mentioned that you can’t decide if you like the image or not. Let me ask what was the motivation behind using the ICM technique? What caught your eye that you wanted to record and convey using motion?
Thanks Alfredo. In the field I saw the high grasses in contrast to the dark green trees beyond. I wanted to express a feeling of mystery of heading into the darker forest. I took several shots without camera motion but didn’t find them interesting. So I was experimenting with the ICM trying to make the scene more abstract while preserving the feeling of entering into the unknown. Since the last edit I have also darkened the upper green area (and decreased yellow) trying to increase the drama and sense of heading into darkness.
That’s great Michael. ICM can be a powerful tool to express ideas and emotions. You’re headed in the right direction so keep up the good work.
PS Alfredo thanks for the informative and inspiring article on abstracts in Nature Vision Magazine!
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Hello Michael. I really like your motion in this one, the texture comes out with the brush stroke effect of the shutter speed and your movement. It’s an awkward composition, however. As @Dennis_Plank stated, it’s too evenly divided between grasses and trees/leaves. However, when I tried to crop it to shift that division, nothing seemed to work great. For me, the real magic is in those grasses, and the green is simply a backdrop to them. I hate cutting them off to shift that division. And when I took some of the green out from the top, that worked better. But there are still problems - the dark ‘holes’ on the left and right area of the green don’t add much. what I ended up with was a pretty radical crop, but at least you can see my thinking. When we pan on scenes like this we have to watch carefully for those dark areas that can become holes, as well as bright areas that will distract. As for the dehaze filter effect it is likely due to the software reading the blur as a bit ‘hazy’, or simply that dehire builds contrast in all parts of the picture, not just a sky. my guess, anyway!
Thanks Brenda, I really appreciate your input. On the original raw there is more lower part available to play with than upper, I may play with the crop some more. Overall a learning experience for me, not expecting too much from this one.
Thanks so much Michael! That is great to hear.
