When I saw this scene, I immediately thought that the round rock looked like a moon in the creek, so I processed it to give that impression.
Specific Feedback Requested
This is from 2018 and I’ve been working on it, off and on, for that long, and I’ve fiddle-faddled with it long enough, I think. The rocks under the water were a bit too distinct, so I’ve tried to soften them, while not making a total mush of the tree-branch shadows (which were indistinct to start with). There were clouds in the sky, which made nice light reflections in parts of the water.
Anyway, any critique or impressions are welcome. Please have at it.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
a7r, 55mm, f/11, 1/50s, ISO 400. Lots of dodging/burning, color and clarity adjustments.
It kind of looks like the moon or a meteor fell onto ice and shattered the ice! I really like the tree branch shadows which look like the cracks to me in ice. It’s a beautiful rock too! Nice discovery!
Good one, it makes a fine mind bender that takes a second to grasp what I am looking at. I was thinking it looks like a moon in the trees at a real first impression.
I find this to be fascinating. It’s another one of your images that grows on you the longer you look. It’s actually a bit spooky in my opinion. I don’t see this so much as a stone in water but as dark lines coming from a bright round circle. And then there is all that mysterious ‘fog’. Much is out of focus and that ambiguity works well. This image lets your mind go in different paths if you let it. I don’t know what to suggest. You could work in some colors if you wanted to. There is very little color here. The lrc is a bit different due to its density. You could crop it off and concentrate on the vessels around the center of the eyeball.
Interesting - we don’t get much ice around here, so it never occurred to me that it could look like ice.
I’m glad you noticed that, Harley. That was part of what I saw, also.
It does have more color when I view it in PS. I haven’t figured out why things look less saturated here (or whenever I post online). I will post a more colorful version (did a LAB color adjustment). And yes, the LRC is different - it’s a rock above the water. I tried warping & cloning it out, but it didn’t look right, so it will just have to stay.
I love this – great seeing!! Very intriguing and mysterious.
The difference in appearance between the post and what you see in PS is intriguing and should not be the case. It is in sRGB, which eliminates the obvious problem. I don’t know if I would have any good ideas, but information never hurts. What is your computer and PS version, and what is your browser?
It is reminiscent of ice. It’s such a fixture here that I forget it isn’t everywhere. The rework is a little more forthright, but the paler version is intriguing, too. An excellent little brain bender.
edit: I think I figured it out. In PS, the default Proof Setup setting was CMYK. Changing to Monitor RGB made the PS image match the screen image (for example, a photo used as a desktop background).
This is a Fine image, it has a mystical feel and doesn’t place itself in any “scape” per se. I am wondering if you are aware if the works of Minor White? The reflections, to me, don’t read as such, and often what we see, as the artist, others don’t. They can take a wholly different view of the image than we do. One of the joys of art.
If you can ever find it, look for a monograph on him entitled, “Mirrors, Messages and Manifestations.” He was a seminal figure in mid 20th century photography.
@Guy_Manning, thanks, and oh yes I know Minor White, although I haven’t read that monograph (just ordered a copy, as it certainly looks like I should read it). Thanks for the reference.
Good sleuthing, Bonnie! That would account for your problem.
I’d also recommend Aperture #95, “Minor White, A Living Remembrance”, if it can still be found. I love the quote, “One should not only photograph things for what they are but for what else they are.”
So late to the party on this one Bonnie but I think this reminds me of a meteor landing in ice just as Vanessa said. I think I like rework 2 best with less color and more contrast. Like Igor said, this image can take your mind in so many different directions. It’s kind of spooky and haunting. Well done to go back and find this after 3 years.
I sent you a reference to an article on Minor White. One of the interesting points it makes is to not ‘make sense’ of one of his images but to treat them as a visual experience. Another words, the idea of ‘this looks like that’ is not the way he meant his images to be viewed as. I think your image is also like that. It’s an interesting approach.
@Igor_Doncov This is why I brought up White to begin with. I was looking at Bonnie’s portfolio a couple weeks ago and saw a number of images with that quality.
Thank you, gentlemen. I am gratified that at least some of my photos have the quality of not being just a photo of a particular subject, and that they can be a ‘visual experience.’ Although I have to say that I usually cannot articulate what I think that visual experience might be. That’s why it’s so interesting to me to hear what others see/think about my photos.
What I take it to mean is that the photograph is purposely vague and ambiguous thus allowing the viewer to look a it longer and take it in several different directions each time he/she looks at it. Basically the viewer makes personal associations with what he sees based upon his frame of mind or past life experiences. The actual subject (tree, rock) is unimportant.
Amazing image, Bonnie. I think I like rework 2 the best overall but really they all work great for me. such an interesting photograph and I’m enjoying it a lot! So creative!
