Autumn 2020 photo project - taken 10/12/20 in Stoddard, New Hampshire
A severe summer drought dramatically lowered the water in this river by the time October rolled around. This exposed a lot of rocks in the river that normally aren’t visible. Yeah, I know there are some nice abstract reflection patterns in the water alone. I actually have a bunch of those shots. But for this image, I wanted to try something different that actually works the rocks into the image. Also attached is another image with a much wider view of the scene, to illustrate why I didn’t include more of the rocks at the top.
Leave the rocks in or out ? Would you have tried a different extraction of the details here ?
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 200 mm, ISO 400, 0.8 sec at f16
Have to give some feed back here as stones and rocks account for a lot of strong engaging elements in water images. For me this first image is just real hard to look at with the abstract reflections juxtaposed next to the the very solid curves of the river stone. Second image is fine, the water line does distract from the overall aesthetics, but some times a specific location can’t give you everything you want. I like the image and the stones, water line or not … more of an Autumn scene than a riverstone scene. Happy New Year to you Ed.
Both are well done but I definitely prefer the second. The bathtub ring does not bother me at all. It is a beautiful autumn scene. I would burn the yellow grass at the water line and the bright rock coming in on that edge and clean up the edges with the white bits. Really nice.
The close-up version is definitely more intriguing, and more challenging to view. My first reaction was vague discomfort, I thing because of the contrast between the sharply focused rocks and the wild, colorful reflection. I thought maybe if the rocks weren’t cool-toned it wouldn’t be so jarring, but that didn’t change it appreciably. The longer I sit with it, though, the more I like it. The wider version is definitely more conventionally beautiful. The contrast between the calm, horizontal framing and the bright, warm colors gives it a nice energy. And I love the the brown bathtub ring - the color matches the leaves!
Ed,
To answer your question directly. I would leave the rocks out and go with a different extraction of the reflection. I find the rocks and reflection compete for attention. To combine both I played with a really tight crop of the rocks and water and found it might work, of course you lose most of the colors and your original concept.
Top one is difficult to see at first and a bit confusing. How about a considerable crop off bottom making it a pano? Just a wild suggestion.
Bottom one wonderful, although I like Harley’s burning suggestion. Bathtub ring? No problem for me.
This image was an experiment at trying something different with a reflection image. My idea was to create contrast in things such as warm/cool, abstract/concrete, soft/sharp. I avoided showing more of the rocks at the top not because of because of the bathtub ring, but rather because the twigs, sticks and fall color above the rocks would have added distraction in my mind. I added the second image not as a “pick which one you like better”, but rather to illustrate how cluttered the rest of the scene was.
It does not surprise me that the reaction to this image was unanimously unfavorable, I knew I was pushing boundaries by showing so little of the rock that it likely had made the composition too unbalanced. It is interesting to me that several folks commented that they didn’t like the contrast between abstract and concrete (sharp. However the ratio of rocks to reflection space was not extensively discussed. This was an experiment that I knew had likely failed, but apparently not for the reason I thought it might.
Even more surprising to me is the mildly favorable reaction almost everyone had to the second image. To me, the second image is too cluttered and busy, and for me is essentially a throwaway image destined to be deleted. I’m curious, was your positive reaction to the second image due to it’s own merits, or rather was it positive only in comparison to the failed first image?
I really like this on its own merits. There is a lot going on, but the composition holds it together really well and looks really balanced to my eye. I quite like it completely on its own.
@Ed_McGuirk, Ed my response on the second image was in comparison to the first one. The second one has some innate problems, as you have recognized by indicating it was a “throwaway image”. The debris for me is not that big a a killer though.
Hi Ed,
One idea that came to my mind would be to use a longer shutterspeed (ND filter) to make the reflection even more soft. Below, I tried to mimic that in post-processing, together with another crop of the stones. Maybe not that good, but I include it anyhow.
B.R.
Ola
@Ola_Jovall that’s an interesting idea to blur to mimic the use of an ND filter on the water. I’ve concluded the strip of rocks (in mine or yours) just doesn’t really work, being so small and off center. They just look cramped and the shape of the rocks (and the clutter above) make it too much of a stretch to have attempted what I did.
But thank you for the idea of using blur to affect the look of reflections, it’s something I’ve never considered before. But I think it may have possibilities for some of my other reflection images. To some degree it can behave sort of like an after the fact variable ND filter.
