The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This was taken Saturday night on the Truckee River. I was backpacking and had set camp and was not planning to shoot anymore. Luckily, I noticed the moonlight and followed the river and saw this composition. I was most struck by the moonlight - the light is always my first thing - and then quickly saw the composition.
Specific Feedback
Nothing specific
Technical Details
30 sec at f2.8 iso 1000. 20mm
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Great catch, Brad. I am always amazed at how I put away the camera too soon. I’m glad you got yours back out. The color palette looks natural to me and has a blue moon effect that makes this very tranquil. I like how the grass in the foreground provides a natural vignette. My only nit is that, for me at least, the cropped out tree top is a little distracting. Not sure if you have one with the tree not topped? Or perhaps cropping lower, so it feels more intentional–but then you lose the stars, which I quite like.
Regardless, this is a lovely scene. I’m glad you shared it.
ML
Good point about the tree. The original exposure includes the full tree. I just wanted less sky there, because you can’t see the stars in that part of the sky, due to the moonlight.
Very moody, Brad. I hope folks look at the full-size image because the thumbnail doesn’t show all the detail. The moonlight on the water makes the image. I could see a crop from the top in order bring the eye more into the good stuff going on with the river.
I echo @Preston_Birdwell on the moonlight, it is glorious in that reflection. Don’t crop it at all, or at least what ever you did for the last one you posted with the full tree. The blue sky just adds to the mood and whatever stars you do have in it are just icing.
Definitely love the version with the full height of the tree. Thats a well composed shot. Did you try any highlight reduction on the moon to try to show more of the crescent? Tough to do while properly exposing for the foreground thought.
The river looks great. I just meant with regards to the moon itself. I think you did a great job overall on this photo. We can’t, no matter how hard we try, stop the earth from turning nor the moon from orbiting so that our 30 second exposure photos are free from motion blur.
An excellent night shot and the light on the river is special. Many interpretations are possible and none is necessarily best – it’s just preference, and your choice is the one that matters.
An interesting point (and again purely preference) is that moonlight is the same color temp as sunlight, as it is sunlight bounced off the gray moon, so an accurate color would be less blue. It would be interesting, if you haven’t, to play with the WB and see if anything strikes your fancy. The main reason I suggest it is that it will increase contrast, but maybe at the expence of mood.
Thanks Diane. That’s a very interesting point about the color of moonlight. I don’t think I’d ever heard that before. I chose a cooler temperature because I thought it went well with the blue of the water and sky. I tried it with a warmer temperature just now. I like it. Here it is:
That’s a frustration with the digital age – we have a new variable we (most of us) never thought about with film, which was mostly daylight-balanced. Now with shooting raw we can vary the WB hugely with no degradation. And “auto” is completely unreliable for any sort of accuracy unless there is an “average” range of colors in the image. And nobody will say that you need the same WB for the sky /water and the landscape… (within the constraint of it looking believable).
