Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
A foggy day in Shenandoah National Park, VA.
Any and all critiques, comments and suggestions welcome. After posting I have noticed a branch that has fallen and lodged diagonally against the trees just left of center. Should i clone it out?
Olympus EM5 MK2, 90mm, 1/15 sec @ f/8, ISO 200.
Just a lovely photograph. Eliot Porter.
I love the blue tones mixed with the yellow tones. I love the foreground bush/tree that is multitrunked on the left side of the image and I see how you framed it with tree trunks on both the right and left edges. I think it works as is but I’m wondering what it might feel like to crop out the smaller trunks on the left edge and maybe even the smaller trunk on the right side. It’s just a feeling I have and it may be all wrong because I do think it works as is. Oh, and the fog is clearly what makes this image special. I’m thinking maybe you could even enhance the fog a little bit more?
Mike,
First off, I love the mood with the fog and the pano format works beautifully with the vertical trunks of the trees. I also like the way you framed this with a tree on both the right and left sides as bookends so to speak; keeping the eye in the frame to enjoy all the goodness. My only suggestion; just my personal preference; would be just a little more saturation on the yellow leaves for a little more pop to stand out a little more. I’ll second @Ronald_Murphy’s Eliot Porter. I hope you don’t mind, but here is what I was thinking.
Michael, this is a beautiful picture that sets a soothing mood. The pano crop works perfectly, and the smaller trunks help bookend the scene because of their size and value. I would not touch them. I find the yellow leaves balance nicely with the overall mood. I have only one tiny observation. The branches that go out of the frame in the LLC stand out and pull my eye there. I would either clone them out or shorten them so they don’t touch the edge of the frame. They show up when you do a “border patrol” for distractions.
Thanks @David_Haynes , @Ed_Lowe , @Ronald_Murphy and @Barbara_Djordjevic for the comments and suggestions. @David_Haynes , I made quite a few different crops of this image including the one you suggested, Thanks for the rework, @Ed_Lowe . @Barbara_Djordjevic you are correct about the branches.
Wow. What an incredible image! This seems perfect. This is so skillfully done. I wouldn’t change a thing. There may be changes that could lead to an interesting image but they would just be different, not better (in my view). This is so well seen. Yes, the fog helps about it but you took good advantage of it. Btw, I don’t see this as Eliot Porter but the subject certainly is.
Michael, this is a masterfully crafted woodland image to my eye. I enjoy the details and colours of the foreground foliage, as well as the trunks anchoring the image firmly and finally the composition leading me into depth. Your careful treatment of colours and saturation is spot on in my opinion, keeping the sense of subtlety.
