This is a scene of Pennypack Creek in suburban Philadelphia. I love this location, but compositions are limited (and I am not shy about getting wet.) So I found this rock along the shore, placed this interesting set of leaves upon it, and took a long exposure in the morning hours. I welcome any feedback on composition. Does this scene work? If it does, I could apply this technique to several other area locations. Do you have any suggestions for improvement, or should abandon the technique altogether?
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Nikon D810, Nikon 12-24 f/4 lens, polarizer
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This shot is processed very nicely. I think the main thing that doesnāt work for me is that the foreground is almost too dominating, with not much going on behind it so my eye doesnāt know what to do. It almost seems like itās the type of shot where the foreground wants to be in focus and the rest bokeh, except itās all sharp. And without any leading lines, my eye kind of just stops at the leaves. This could be because Iām looking at it from a landscape perspective when it may work very nicely as a fine art piece.
It is still a very nice shot though and very cleanly processed with good color.
I think my thoughts are almost the opposite. I like the near/far composition. I think the fog/mist in the bg sufficiently softens things and allows the leaves to clearly be the main subject. Yet, the stream and the forest details in back let the user explore the rest of the image.
Processing - I think the WB is to yellow. Played with this a bit and yes, thereās plenty of yellow in the rock, but globally I still think too warm. Of course well within the realm of personal choice.
The only thing really thatās an issue for me is the placement of the leaves. I donāt have a problem with that in general, and when I place things, I want it to look natural. The positioning is fine, but itās not too often one sees fallen leaves like this in springā¦ In the fall? leaves are falling all over the place and itās easy place a leaf and no one would think twice. Not a big deal, just my .02.
I think the scene has potential, but Iām not convinced that the leaves you placed in the foreground add to the image. They feel like they have been hit with a flash and are very bright relative to the rest of the image. Assuming you want to keep working with this kind of technique, I would drastically reduce the brightness and saturation of the foreground leaves. Hereās a quick example of the kind of processing that comes to mind.
Interesting! I never considered that the foreground leaves were too bright. After seeing your version, however, I agree. Your edit looks betterā¦more natural. Since no flash was used, I am not sure how that look occurred. I will go back to the RAW file and investigate. This is why I enjoy critiques. Others see things that the photographer missed!
Marc, my comments on this image pretty much echo those of @Lon_Overacker. I like the foggy background, and the near far composition. I do think the image is much too yellow, to the point where you are losing color contrast. Green foliage already has a lot yellow in it anyways, and by warming this up so much you have lost color separation. In terms of the leaves, its critical to achieving a near/far look. But personally I like to follow what I call the āIt could Have Been Thereā rule, which means as long as it looks natural Iām okay with placements of elements. This one is a bit of a stretch for me, it looks a little too good.
I re-reviewed this image and after looking and reading the comments, the strong yellow cast is not helpful to the image. Hereās another version that I quickly worked to address my prior concern of the brightness of the foreground leaves, but also includes a significant shift in the color balance to achieve a more natural look. See what you think.
I compared all three images side-by-side, and your last image has a cooler white balance. Again, it looks more natural. Finding this RAW file holds more importance than ever. Thank you everyone for your input. This information is invaluable.
