Banff, August 2019
A bit of a different take on the classic Rundle shot from Vermillion Lakes. Helped that it was windy and a storm had just rolled through: the clouds were doing something I don’t see everyday.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
Is it too dark, over-saturated?
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Any
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
2 shot focus stack, hand-held @ f11
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Filip, this is a really fine take on Rundle. The processing looks really good to my eye, although I might burn down or very lightly clone in just a bit of texture in the blown sky top center.
Nice and moody. I like the brooding look, it gives the mountain a sense of presence, that said sometimes the use of wider lenses can diminish the mountain and pay just a little too much attention to a pleasing but ultimately less emotionally charged foreground element. For me it errs a bit too much in favour of the grasses, however nice they are. It does make a pleasing paradox between the gloomy mountain and joyfully chaotic tangle of green grass and there is definitely merit in that element.
While I like the sky, the mountains, the reflection, etc. it’s the foreground grasses that carry the image for me. It’s those flowing lines, their contrast, and the variation from cyan green to yellow green to even brown. The darker background provides a good backdrop for them.
I don’t know if this is better or not. I made Harley’s suggestion. Cropped from each side to make it a square (I feel the right can benefit from a crop). I desaturated the blues in the sky. No major changes. You can decide which ones suit you.
Igor’s crop idea works well to help center attention on the main subject. In fact, you might consider cropping a little more from the right side and then clone out that one piece of grass. I really like the light here, and the grass looks great.
-P
While I really like the texture and light in the foreground grasses I agree with Ian that the wide angle lens put too much emphasis on them, and the mountain (for me) kind of gets lost in the background. It’s a shame because there is so much interest and drama around Mount Rundle and yet my eyes keep getting pulled to the foreground and to me, it competes to much with the background.
Love this! It’s a beauty. I happen to really like that the foreground grasses are emphasized AND the primary subject; the near/far composition relegates the mountains and drama in the background to accent status, IMHO. If the mountains and cloud drama was your primary objective, I’m sure you’ve got a telephoto comp showing that. But here, I love the balance you’ve struck between the two. The grasses are wonderful.
I like Igor’s tweaks although the crop has minimally changed that near/far relationship (bringing the mountain closer and more prevalent)
I’m just glad to see an image from here that doesn’t include ice and bubbles…
What a nice job of combining the abstract grass foreground with such a dramatic background. Very nice! (Agree that it’s nice to see an image from this time of year!)
@Harley_Goldman I tend to agree, and I’ll look into adding a bit of texture to the sky in the centre.
@Ian_Cameron@Tom_Nevesely I see what you mean, and I agree that the grass might be competing too much with the mountain. The grass was actually still blowing from the passing storm, and I’m now wondering if I had used a slower shutter speed to capture the movement, maybe the grass wouldn’t compete as much; though I’d loose some color and maybe some interest there, and then there’s still the problem with wide angle perspective…
@Igor_Doncov I like your crop, and I agree it looks a little better square. I’m not sure about the desaturated sky, I’ll need to look at it some more. Thanks!
@Preston_Birdwell Now that I’ve notices that piece of grass, I can’t unnotice it. It’s gone. Thanks!
@Lon_Overacker Thank you! I’m happy you liked it, and yeah, I definitely have shots from this area with the ice bubble somewhere in the archives Gotta get those iconic shots sometimes!
@John_Williams Thank you! It’s certainly popular to shoot here in the winter, but I think the summer has a lot of potential too. And we’ve got the larches turning color soon
Gotta get those iconic shots sometimes!