The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Ormiston Creek in the West MacDonnell Ranges began carving its way through the rising ranges over 300 million years ago. Because the river was there before the mountains finished rising, it maintained its course by cutting through the rock as it uplifted. a process that created the deep “water gap” .
Specific Feedback
I have way too many images of red quartzite ranges and gorges and none that I am particularly happy with. I see the problems when processing the images after a trip. This one I am bugged by the sandy beach. Does it draw your attention too much? Crop it off?
Yes, crop it off. It is a distraction from your “story,” which is the red rock formations. But, I’d leave a bit of it on the left. Cropping it up to base rock on the right (that is just above what looks like sticks, or even snakes — It’s difficult to describe!), and slightly burning in the sand might work.
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Ormiston Creek in the West MacDonnell Ranges began carving its way through the rising ranges over 300 million years ago. Because the river was there before the mountains finished rising, it maintained its course by cutting through the rock as it uplifted. a process that created the deep “water gap” .
Specific Feedback
I have way too many images of red quartzite ranges and gorges and none that I am particularly happy with. I see the problems when processing the images after a trip. This one I am bugged by the sandy beach. Does it draw your attention too much? Crop it off?
It might be helpful to figure out what it is about them that you’re unhappy with. To understand what you were after and how that was not met. The beach looks fine to me if this is an image of an area, a cliff, a canyon. But if this is about red rocks then maybe cropping out the beach and rive is a good idea. The two lower elements do add interest to the image though. And they add variety.
I would personally keep the sand, I think it helps tell the story of the place and don’t find it distracting. I like the composition and you’ve got some great colors going. When I’m a little dissatisfied with what I’ve shot I usually ask myself “why did I take the image?”, what elements of the scene drew my eye in, and what could I have done better to highlight those elements. After countless conversations with myself, after the fact, I began to learn to have those conversations while composing the shot. I saw in your gallery you mostly have posted avian and close up shots (awesome collection by the way), which all have a strong central subject or focus. I think my only nit with this image, is it lacks a focal point where the viewers eye is drawn and can rest on.
Glennie, I too like the sand at the bottom for how it completes the geological story. I also like the mix of colors, shapes and textures along with the slanting layers. As I look at this, I’m feeling like my eyes don’t throughly roam through the scene. The bright red/orange of the rocks on the right and the slanting grass/tree slope get the most attention. I’d suggest a mix of darks dodging in the lower right and mid-tone burning of the brightest rocks to even out the visual attraction. Below is a quick look at those ideas (my not be what you envision…). I could also see this cropped to square using only the top, but that makes it a very different “story”, more rocks vs vegetation and red vs green than geology. It’s hard to advise without being there seeing the full scene, but I could also see zooming in with you lens onto that white tree popping out of the red rocks near the middle, although isolate that tree you might need to walk down the Creek bed a bit further. There are also isolation possibilities using those yellow grasses with the rocks and sand along the bottom…
My standard approach to photography is that something will catch my eye as beautiful and/or interesting, and that will set off a chase to find a way to capture the beauty/interest that will translate to a viewer that wasn’t there. I find it challenging at times (especially in the forests around where I live). I think that’s a big part of what I enjoy about photography though, because if I can come away with something compelling it’s very rewarding.
I can see why you are chasing the red, it’s beautiful, and my bet is you will eventually nail what you are looking for.
For me, the sand seems a bit disconnected from the rest of the image. Was there any more of it below this composition? (It would be fun to compare an image with sand stretching all the way across the bottom, but I realize that may have not been there.)
My favorite part of the image is the tree growing in the cut near the center. I wonder if playing with a more intimate image of that would be worth playing with if you return?
Hi Glennie. I think what bugged me about this image was the sand as well, but that was partly because of your title. The “creek” made me expect a water leading line and I kept looking for it. For a moment, I even thought the sand was really odd looking water. Looking at this image more, I’m thinking there might be a really interesting composition if you could widen the field of view a bit and get that entire slanting line of trees going up the slope in the image, probably without the sand at the bottom, but it would depend on what’s to the left down there.
Thank you @Susanna_Euston ! I’m still on the fence about the sand, but I’m leaning toward keeping it.
Thank you @Igor_Doncov ! Figuring out why I’m unhappy boils down to restrictions and timing. (And not just for this image) When we travel, we hike a lot and the days get bright and hot very early, even in winter. If I was more familiar with the area we would get there earlier and at least spend a bit of time to contemplate varied compositions. As it was we had almost finished the 9klm walk to get to this spot. If only we had started here. It’s only 300m from the carpark! We had both decided it would be better to do the 9klm walk when it was cooler.
Thank you @Scott_Fricke ! I did like the different textures and elements coming together here and it reminded me of a tapastry. And, yes. I find it quite difficult to shot images with no focal point. That tree could have been it.
Thank you @Mark_Seaver ! Thankyou for taking the time to edit. Once you start looking, there are an awful lot of isolation possibilities to explore.
Thank you @John_Williams ! I have no more sand images and I agree, I shoudl have contemplated a bit more on the various compositions. As mentioned to Igor, timing is an issue and is usually rushed.
Thank you @Dennis_Plank ! The little creek was quite dry and only persisting rocky water holes were remained. My field of view was much greater. It was already getting close to noon and the low, bright sunlight made a great job of blowing all the left hand side of the gorge. In hind site, I could have taken more images with different exposures and stitched them later.
I have no problem with the sandy part. I think it adds to the story. My favorite part of the im,age is the cleft in the rock face with the tree growing out of it. Perhaps if you wanted a more intimate composition you might try something like this.
Glenys, I get the conundrum. I was there a few years ago and the red ironstone saturated my mind till I could not see. For me, the camera could not record it at all. Your photo has bands of dark and light, especially the yellow diagonal in the middle. I suggest enhancing these bands to give an illusion of depth and to emphasize the white eucalypt. I believe starting with the lhs sand as an anchor would be good. A lighter creek bed showing the curve to the left distance might also help. Some rocks in the creek (3/4 way along)could be darker to help creek continuity. I am sure this was an amazing trip.
Hi Glenys,
The red color of the rocks is certainly beautiful and eye catching and is my favorite part of the scene, along with that tree growing out of the crack in the rocks. I have no problem with the sand as it does help tell the story of the location, but I am seeing this image as a twofer as I quite like the crop proposed by @Michael_Lowe. This looks like a location definitely worth revisiting and refining what you are looking for.
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