Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Both of these photos were taken walking along the Virgin River along the trail leading to the entrance of the narrows. It is an area that never disappoints, and like many locations, constantly changes with the light. These were both taken around 10:00, hand held with a Canon 24-70 lens, using an iso of 800 to allow a smaller aperture to get better depth of field. I have found that current noise reduction software from photos taken by my ancient Canon 5d IV is excellent and I never hesitate to up the ISO, even to 1600, if I am concerned about depth of field.
Specific Feedback
In the top photo I’d love feedback about the sky. The cliffs weren’t getting direct sun, so I had to darken the sky and darkening blue always seems to change the hue. Do the hue and brightness seem OK? In the bottom photo, I’m interested in what you think about the compostion. Does the mass of vibrant green on the right unbalance things? I am hoping the vertical division of the composition into thirds holds things together.
Technical Details
Hand held, Canon 5d IV, EF 24-70 f/2.8 II, ISO 800 First photo f/16, 1/60 sec, second photo f/22, 1/25 sec
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
- Vision and Purpose:
- Conceptual:
- Emotional Impact and Mood:
- Composition:
- Balance and Visual Weight:
- Depth and Dimension:
- Color:
- Lighting:
- Processing:
- Technical:
Hi, Tony. Your composition in the top image is spot on. There’s something going on with the cliffs on the right, though. The cliff on the left looks natural but the one on the right appears to have some contrast issues. It’s very flat, and I would expect brighter highlights and deeper shadows. The sky looks fine to my eye, and the color in the leaves is beautiful, offering a nice contrast to the red rock and blue sky.
Thanks for the comment. Yes, the cliffs on the right have given me a lot of grief. The cliffs on the left were in the shade and the ones on the right were in full sun and the color and contrast was very washed out. Adding some contrast is a good idea, I will give it a try.
You gotta love the greens against the orange cliffs in Zion and these two showcase how saturated those two colors really are. If you’ve never been there it’s hard to believe. In the first image your composition is first rate. Good balance and weight on both sides of the image. Like @Bret_Edge noticed, there is something off on the right wall and you explained it in your response back to him. I would let that wall go naturally much lighter than the opposing left wall. I think it would look more natural. At 10am you had some pretty bright light with no clouds to deal with and I think you did an exceptional job nonetheless. I do see a weird halo around the little white cloud, maybe a selection that went a little bit wide of the mark and the trees on top of the right side have a blue appearance. I think if you can rework the right side wall this will be a great image showcasing what Zion is all about. The sky has some dark blue mixed with lighter blue and some odd artifacts like I mentioned around that little cloud so I get the feeling that the sky was more washed out before processing this…or not. I’m not sure but something is askew but not horribly. Again, a rework of the wall while paying close attention to edges so you don’t get halos would turn this first image into a really finely composed Zion landscape.
That second image showcases the weeping walls inside the main canyon and the colors look to be just about right. Again, using those greens against the oranges really shows the Springtime colors well. The composition with the tree exiting the right side of the frame may not be ideal but I can see you were maybe trying to use the tree to frame up the composition.
I love cottonwoods, and they really look good against contrasting cliffs like this.
That sky has a lot of green to it. It might be worth experimenting with shifting the color a little.
Tony, Zion offers so much to see and photograph. I prefer the second, intimate landscape over the grand landscape image. Looking at the grand landscape, the leading lines - v between the cliffs - lead me to the blank blue sky, causing me to miss what is the point of the image. The close-up image better communicates Zion to me. This is not a negative criticism , just my way of seeing. I might reduce the saturation a tad. I would love to be with you at Zion here.
What I love most about these images (both of them) is the red/green complementary colours. Being as vivid as they are, both of these images are all about colour.
To me, the sky in the first photo looks perfectly fine and natural and the balance in the second image feels right. The fact that there is that green branch reaching across the image to the left side really helps with that and overall, makes the composition that much more interesting.
Oh, and one last thing – I don’t know if I’d call the 5Div “ancient”. I still love and use mine all of the time. 
