Seven Pillars Canyon

Image Critiques Landscape Critiques
1

Canyon 03.jpg
Canyon 03.jpg1259×936 1.55 MB

Critique Style Requested: In-depth

The photographer has shared comprehensive information about their intent and creative vision for this image. Please examine the details and offer feedback on how they can most effectively realize their vision.

Self Critique

What worked:
I feel that the warmth and balance work. The light was harsh, but I think I sucessfully pulled out the color and reflection without losing the calm, late-day feel. I think the final version captures the quiet serentiy and shows the natural layers of color in a way that feels true to what I saw.

What didn’t work:
The composition feels flat to me. I didn’t have many options to add foreground elements because I couldn’t move closer. This is a protected Native American site and the most advantagious view was roped off. There were a lot of fallen branches between me and the riverbank. The bright sky is stronger than I’d like. I’m happy with the crop, but I’m sure there are ways to make the image feel deeper and more dynamic.

Creative direction

My goal was to capture a sense of peace and stillness, that moment where everything is quiet except for the water moving and a bit of wind in the trees. I wasn’t trying to make it dramatic or overly edited. I just wanted the photo to feel like what it felt to stand there.

I’m still finding my voice, but I’m drawn to simplicity and honesty in nature photography. I prefer natural light and subtle editing that enhances what’s already there. I guess I lean toward painterly realism; not literal, not surreal, just emotional enough to make someone pause and look a little longer.

What I wanted people to feel is calm. There’s so much noise in the world right now, and this place, with its mix of light and shadow, reminded me how quiet can feel like its own kind of beauty.

Specific Feedback

Composition and depth: how to build a stronger sense of dimension when you can’t include a clear foreground or move about the location freely.

Processing: whether my final adjustments (color, clarity, warmth, and shadow balance) work or if they feel heavy-handed or unnatural.

Light management: suggestions for handling bright skies and reflective water without filters when shooting in full sun. Basically, how do I get closer to the final image with minimal processing.

Technical Details

Camera: Nikon D850
Lens: Nikkor 28mm f/1.4
Aperature: f/8
Shutter: 1/125
ISO: 64
Metering: Matrix
WB: Daylight
Processing: Photoshop - tonal adjustments, contrast, and color balance. No HDR or sky replacement

Description

I learned the basics of photography decades ago using my dad’s old Kodak camera, a pair of Schneider lenses, miles of T-Max film, and my college darkroom. I eventually gave it up out of frustration, expense, and the arrival of digital technology. I fell in love with it all over again through my phone while on vacation a few months ago. I bit the bullet, invested in a Nikon D850 and a few general-purpose lenses, and started teaching myself again. This image was one of the first I shot, and I sought out the location on purpose. The light was harsher than I’d hoped for, and my access to the site was very limited. What I learned is that my new camera is a beast, and it is not nearly as forgiving as my old set-up.

Thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to offer thier feedback!

Critique Template

Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.

Vision and Purpose:
Conceptual:
Emotional Impact and Mood:
Composition:
Balance and Visual Weight:
Depth and Dimension:
Color:
Lighting:
Processing:
Technical:

2

This place does look calm. To convey that goal better I would:

  1. Shoot this spot in the morning or evening. At that time the range of light is much less and that lower contrast feels calmer.

  2. I would shoot his in a more panoramic aspect ration. Say 3:4 or even more. Long horizontal lines are very calming to the viewer.

I hear you about the restrictions placed on the photographer. Composition is so important and when they tie your hands it’s hard to come up with anything. Pt Lobos is a great example. It’s now impossible to now make images like those that Edward Weston made famous.

3

Thanks for sharing this image, Natalie. There’s a lot I enjoy about it, perhaps most the warm/cool contrast of fall foliage and blue sky. I’m a sucker for it! Given the restrictions you were working with I think the composition mostly works. It may not be but it feels like it needs to be rotated CCW a bit. Probably an optical illusion created by the receding shoreline on left, though. Cropping ever so slightly from the top to eliminate the small patch of blue sky peeking through foliage helps keep my eye from being drawn up there instead of remaining within this beautiful scene. As Igor mentioned, better light would likely be the single best way to improve the image. I look forward to seeing more of your work on NPN and hope you’ll take some time to comment on other member’s posts, too.

4

A gorgeous image! This kind of scene is difficult in full sun – what looks great to our eyes usually doesn’t translate well to a photograph, but I think you succeeded very well here. The brightest areas are not glaring and the shadows are not too dark. That lets the colors show very nicely. While a foreground is often nice, I think there is enough interest in the water here to serve that purpose.

I do think there is a need to rotate it, though. Whether it is an optical illusion or not, there are horizontal appearing shapes in the midground. I pulled down a guide in PS and Here’s what feels best to me:

Canyon 03-DM
Canyon 03-DM1317×1016 1.31 MB

5

Natalie: Beautiful scene and certainly worthy of shooting and working. I also think this looks off level a bit and I would be tempted to crop tighter in post processing or if you have a zoom lens simply getting in closer with the capture. For me the rocks in the FG water don’t add much so I cropped some of them away and made the rest disappear with content aware fill. I also made the contrail in the sky go away. Your specs didn’t mention it but with scenes containing a lot of water and reflections a polarizer can work wonders and also bring out more contrast in the sky and clouds although with wide angle lenses you have to be careful about uneven polarization in the sky. It’s great to have you aboard and I hope we can help you build on what sounds like a pretty sound foundation. >=))>

Natalie
Natalie1211×748 1.08 MB

6

Hi Natalie,
This looks like a wonderful place with some nice possibilities for photography. If you have some longer lenses you may be able to isolate some of those formations along the edge of the water. You already have some great suggestions and I would like to offer one more for you. My thought is to reduce the cyan in the sky.I hope you do not mind, but here is a rework with what I was thinking. Just my opinion of course. This is a nice image and well worth tweaking a little bit. I hope to see more of your work as well as your comments on other photographer’s work.

Canyon 03
Canyon 031211×791 1.11 MB

7

Natalie, welcome to NPN. This view is quite restfull and inviting. I like the contrail and how it points to the vanishing point and especially those sculpted rocks along the bank. While earlier or later light can reduce the contrast, mid-day light lets the colors show. Looking at the reflections, they look to be well aligned with the rocks, so I’d say there’s no need to rotate. With Photoshop, you can add a saturation layer and desaturate the blues, adding a mask would let you apply that only to the sky or even parts of the sky.

8

Welcome Natalie! Such a wonderful scene. I love what @Bill_Fach did with this, especially with @Mark_Seaver’s idea of reducing the sky saturation. Nice catch on the rotation @Diane_Miller.

1 Like
9

Thank you. I definitly plan to revisit to take advatage of the morning light.

10

Thank you for the thoughtful feedback. I’ll definitely revisit to crop and rotat a little more. Looking forward to sharing more and learning along the way.

11

Thank you so much! I’ve revisited this location at various times of day, but still haven’t had the benefit of a cloudy day to diffuse the light. I agree, it does look better with a slight rotation.

12

Thank you for the thoughtful critique and warm welcome. I like the changes you made very much. I haven’t invested in filters yet, but plan to start with selective purchases. I will say, the transition from film to digital is proving to be quite a challenge. Lots to learn and I’m excited to keep building.

1 Like
13

Thank you! I don’t mind that you made changes. In fact, I appreicate them as they help me see through a different lens… no pun intended. I do have a longer lens and plan to revisit this location to take advantage of the morning sun.

14

Thank you! I appreciate your take on the light and reflections. Digital image processing is a new area for me. I definitely have much to learn.