The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I had about two hours to myself in the afternoon and went to a nearby local park to get outside. I could not pass by the big moss-covered boulder in the middle of the creek. The texture and grey color of the rock seemed to cry out for a Black and White treatment.
Specific Feedback
Composition. Does it feel like the rock in the center of the stream is the “subject”
Technical Details
Canon EOS R5
2.o Sec @ f 22
ISO 100, 31mm
Black in White in camera. Contrast and Crop in Lightroom.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Yes the B&W works quite well. I just love the flow of the water coming in from multiple directions. Visually interesting. I don’t feel an image like this has a one single subject. It’s a combination of the rocks and water patterns. As a personal preference of mine, I think the large white section of water needs a little more texture. I tried to do with the S/H tool in PS, but that’s kind of a sledgehammer tool. Better to do in LR adjusting the lights and whites.
The B&W treatment works very well for this scene since it is distilled down to two basic elements: water and rock. As such, there is not really a central subject, as @Michael_Lowe mentions.
I do agree with his rework to get more texture in the large white section of the water. I like that your processing retains the sheen on the wet rocks. Don’t lose that if you do rework.
Good call on the B&W conversion. Like @Michael_Lowe and @Preston_Birdwell have already mentioned; this scene has two wonderful subjects; rocks and water. The diagonal flow of water entering in the ULC works quite well as does the small diagonal rock directing the eye to the larger one. I think my brother’s rework is heading in the right direction with those bright whites in the water. I would play around with it a little more and see if I could reduce those bright areas even more. It looks as though you put your alone time to good use IMO.
I like the composition of this image, where - as many others said - rock and water share the scene. Both are important and the result is a complex image, which IMO is very pleasant. Again, as said, I also think that the big white water patch needs some texture and perhaps reduction of luminosity, otherwise it is too dominant and it attracts too much attention. But it is a very intriguing image.
