I shoot primarily at dawn, and my work includes shots like this. I have been criticized in the past, in fact local landscape photo contests have been lost, because these photographs are “too empty, plain, lacking foreground objects and subjects” etc. Nonetheless, I am not discouraged. I take these shots because I love the clean look, the gradated colors in sky and water, and the feeling of peace and calm. As a new member I would like to know the thoughts of the NPN community. Thank you.
It works well for me. I like images that tend toward high key and a little hazy or misty and this nicely fits the bill. The negative space works for me as well.
I think this image works well. The symmetry with the reflection makes it seem whole and not too empty. The only thing I have is a personal preference but I would like the image to be a bit darker to give it that pre sunrise feeling.
This is lovely and you should not be discouraged, Marc. This has a very serene feel to it with the morning light and the fleeting mist hovering over the water. This also has a nice mix of warm and cool tones which compliment the mood. Sometimes less is more and keep on shooting these kind of scenes.
Marc, I think this is a fine scene. I also appreciate the clean look to it and the colors create a nice soothing mood. I would continue to shoot scenes that you enjoy and have meaning to you.
First, welcome to NPN! This is a beautiful first post. One of my favorite sayings is: “Simple is almost always a good thing.” And that’s the case here. Simple is beautiful - and engaging too. The trick with a scene like this is that your processing (cloning artifacts, preventing banding, etc. etc.) is paramount. From what I can tell your processing and presentation is spotless.
As far as feedback elsewhere, I’m probably not stepping out on a limb when I say that most social media users posting and responding to images are the quick fix generation looking for bold, wild, the more unreal the better - and they spend very little time actually absorbing and thinking about what they’re viewing. So it’s not surprising you get comments that this is “to empty” in other venues. I’m in a snarky mood and I can’t say I’ve ever been this derogatory… but the only thing that is empty, are those folk’s souls who can’t appreciate contemplative work like this. There, I said it.
Our opinions and experiences vary wildly here, but I think it’s safe to say that we all appreciate what others are trying to convey with their images. Well, pretty much for the most part…
Having said that, the only suggestion I have has to do with the upper and lower brightness/luminosity. It’s fairly accepted that a reflection is usually darker than the reality of the opposite piece. Yours the top and bottom look pretty equal - although I understand there is a level of mist that may be altering those values. Perhaps a very slight burn of the reflection. but that’s getting pretty picky…
Gotta repeat though… your colors, processing etc. sure look pretty flawless. The color/saturation beautiful to my eye.
Welcome aboard and we hope to see more from your favorite time of the day - and others!
Thank you everyone for your input. It is very helpful to get opinions from others with broader experience and knowledge. I will continue to shoot minimalist landscape scenes (among other types- although the one shown above is rather an extreme example) simply because I love them.
Marc, I like this shot, it has a wonderful twilight mood that tells a nice story about the time time of day and place it it was taken. A lot of local photo contests are like most forms of social media, what they are primarily looking for is eye-candy that can be totally digested in 5 to 10 seconds. This image requires a more sophisticated viewer than that. I went to your website to look at your portfolio, especially your Minimalist Gallery. You have some great work there, and while this may be more "minimalist’ than some of those images, it fits nicely in that collection. I look forward to seeing more of your work here at NPN.
Thank you. Although I have recently joined, I do feel comfortable displaying my work at NPN. My landscape photography has matured considerably in the last few years (enough to create my own website after much prodding from friends and colleagues), and I’ve outgrown previous sites.
Good on you. I often catch a saying on backpacking social media sites that goes “hike your own hike,” and I think “shoot your own shot” works just as well." There’s a lot of pleasure in having others enjoy what you enjoy, but I’m not a fan of sacrificing what you love just to please others.
The simplicity and colors work well for me here; I like it as is and agree with the peace and calm.
