Autumn 2020 photo project - taken 10/28/20 in Weston Massachusetts
On a rainy afternoon, I found this gorgeous beech tree whose leaves had the most amazing colors. I initially tried some wider views which included the whole tree. But I wasn’t very happy with the results, they just didn’t do this beautiful tree justice. Then I realized it was really the colors of the leaves that were the most attractive aspect of the tree. So I decided to distill this image down to just a leaf-scape instead. It was impossible to avoid cutting off leaves, so I also decided to only emphasize a couple leaves, and use the rest as framing elements. A polarizing filter was used to remove glare from the wet leaves.
Remember these beech leaves, they will be featured in an upcoming post in this series, taken on 10/30/20 when the tree had an entirely different look.
Specific Feedback Requested
any critique or comments are welcome
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Canon 5D MKIV, Canon 70-200mm f4 lens, at 183mm, ISO 400, 0.6 sec at f16.
Love the warm colors, Ed, especially on these freezing cold days. Also like the composition you’ve chosen as it helps, me at least, see the great detail in the leaves. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the series.
Igor, is there anything you could be more specific about what you think could be stronger about the composition. I’m not disagreeing, rather just interested in your perspective.
Lately, I have felt some frustration in critiquing images. The frustration comes in not fully revealing what I think about an image. And this is primarily in email exchanges rather than here at NPN. No matter what people say they really want minor suggestions about their images and when you go beyond that - silence.
My honest impression when I took some time to look at this image is that you didn’t put in the time needed for a good composition. It’s not a random shot by any means but it could be better. The vision was there but not enough work was put in to fully bring forth that vision. The truth is that every image can be better. I’m rereading Weston’s Daybooks. Most don’t realize that he took pictures of the same pepper for weeks before being satisfied with the one, #30, that we are all familiar with.
I know from experience how much work such a composition requires. I know because I’ve made them. Most of the time you just can’t come up with a good comp and you walk away. I don’t know what else was available. I don’t see a crop here that would turn this into a strong comp.
I don’t ‘analyze’ comps in the field. I just feel them. And this doesn’t feel quite right.If I had to analyze I would say the following:
The dark part is all on the upper right quadrant feels unbalanced because the rest is all overlapping leaves.
The intersecting branches draw attention to an area that shouldn’t get attention.
The greens on the left edge are too vibrant for being where they are. In fact, all the most saturated colors are on the edges.
Personally I find the decaying browns unattractive in this comp. That’s not usually the case. But because the other colors are so rich, to me, the browns don’t fit in.
All in all it’s not a bad picture. For many this would be a good picture. It’s about how demanding you are about your work I guess. I, for example, don’t really like the last few images I’ve posted.
Thank you for the detailed followup Igor. I respect your opinion, and was curious about what specific aspects of the image drove your comment. I agree with you on the greens on the left. Whats going on in the upper right doesn’t bother me as much, but I see your point. However the dark browns are part of what drew me to the image, I think if this had been all yellow and green, the image would not be as interesting. But I know everyone perceives aspects of images differently, and find your input helpful.
I’ll readily admit this is not one of my stronger images, but rather it is part of a series that covers autumn of 2020 in the chronological order they were taken.
Igor’s insight and opinion and Ed’s rejoinder lead me to ponder something I’ve been noodling with for a post on my own blog - is every shot a wall-hanger and do they need to be? Ed explained this is only part of a larger story about his 2020 fall experience. I have thousands like it. Images that, while strong in some aspects, or altogether ‘snapshots’ are part of my larger work which is the story of my time outside. What place do these lesser beings have? Those of you with real portfolios of saleable work might have a different view than us non-pros who only shoot to please ourselves. So does every shot have to be epic? (oh, blog title!!)
No every shot does not have to be epic but the critiquer should treat it that way. The person who critiques has no idea if the image is to be a wall hanger or a snapshot. Therefore, he/she should give it their best shot to make it the best it can be. People really don’t come to NPN to share images or experiences. This is a pleace to learn and improve. That, at least, is my understanding.
No I don’t think that every shot of mine needs to be epic for either myself or others to derive some enjoyment from viewing them. But I agree with @Igor_Doncov that the critiquer at NPN should treat it that way, because to me NPN critique is primarily about learning . Sometimes it’s learning about technical or processing issues (even experienced shooters have them). But for me as a more experienced shooter, critique helps me to learn about how people with different perspectives evaluate some of the images more subjective aspects. For example, I like the brown color in the leaves here, and Igor does not. I never considered that a viewer would not like that color, but it has value to me to know that Igor does not like it. It forces me to consider other perspectives. And Igor is a very experienced photographer whose opinion I value, even if it differs from my own.
When I critique others peoples images at NPN, I often give comments that discuss things that are aimed above my perceived determination of the experience level of the person posting the image . This helps people to grow and consider things that they made need to take the next step. And I think people other than the person posting the image can learn from more advanced comments too.
