Hi all!
I’ve been working on this & would love some feedback/any advice on things I can do to improve the image.
It’s taken in the Kosciusko National Park here in Australia after a crazy hike.
The idea was to use the pool in the foreground to help lead the eye in around the left until it hit the streak of light across the grass then up to the rock formation (I’ve put an overlay example at the very bottom of this)
What technical feedback would you like if any?
I’d love to know if there’s anything I can do to make the composition better, if there are any elements I could remove/add & whether or not the colour composition looks okay also.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
I intentionally brought down the foreground around the pool to help give the idea of frost - does this work as an effect? (I don’t recall there being frost)
happy with any other comments also
Thanks in advance!
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Single frame brought into photoshop with adjustments in camera raw, a little perspective warp to make up for my lack of having a 14-24 lens in the foreground & dodging/burning
Hi Dale. This image portrays a lot of elements : light and shadows, grass, water, reflection, rocks, sky, and distant bright peninsula. You have accepted a big challenge to convey them together as a cohesive composition. I like your approach to the challenge.
For me three things strike me as detracting from cohesiveness. First is the very bright sky and water to the right. You correctly assessed the path of the viewers’ eyes, but it is so bright that there is easy path back into the image, so I would suggest warming it and decreasing exposure a bit. Second, I see an unexpected difference in temperature in the left and right sky, so would favor bringing those into a close balance. Third, to my eye there is extra grass in the near foreground, so at the risk of making it my image and not yours, I would whittle away at that.
For me the remarkable elements are the rocks, their reflection, and the way the light reflects from lighted rocks onto the shaded side of other rocks. I’ll bet there are many small scenes available just in those rocks. In this image, I sharpened the rocks and increased contrast in their surfaces to let them shine a bit more.
I post two images, the first chops most of the near grass, but might be distant from your feelings about the overall image. Looking at it again just now, I would crop a lot of right side also. The second finds a different balance, and also has a few further minor refinements to color and contrast.
You clearly put a lot of thought into the composition, and it does work the way you intended. My eye starts at the bottom and works its way around the frame. The aspect ratio feels too tall to me, though. I don’t think you need so much grass at the bottom or sky at the top. I tried a 4:5 ratio, and found it more balanced. I also cooled the grass and warmed the rocks, but that may just be gratuitous fiddling. Interesting that this wasn’t frosty. That was my first interpretation, that the grass was frost covered.
This is a great scene with all kinds of possibilities. I really like Dick’s first reworking of the Image. May first thought when I looked at it was to much at the bottom of the image and the real focus is the rocks and the reflection. I would go back and keep reworking this scene for sure.
& dodging/burning
