The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
On our trip in October we’ve been posting pictures from, we spent three nights in Jefferson Park. A storm was predicted to move in on the final night. We expected to pack up in the rain and have a miserable wet hike out, but the weather gods took pity on us and we stayed dry. Unfortunately, when I woke up my camera still had just a trace of moisture beaded on the inside of the viewfinder from the refreshing dip it had taken the morning before. I worried that if I loaded the battery and turned the camera on that the remaining moisture might hurt the camera, so while @Steve_Kennedy and @James_Lorentson went to play with the sunrise I was forced to kick back with a cup of coffee to watch the day dawn.
The arriving system began to trickle in as Steve and I had breakfast and packed. (James had a commitment he had to return early for, so he had continued down the trail after photographing sunrise.) Fog would roll through, thickening and thinning as the fast moving clouds swept by. This turned Jefferson Park into a place of magic; all the beautiful meadows and tarns turned into a candy store of misty scenes, and the mountain would come and go in the distance. This drove me slightly (more?) insane, because all of a sudden there were new takes on the same scenes we had been playing with for the past couple days. I wistfully checked the camera one more time before packing it away, and lo and behold the desiccants had continued to work and I couldn’t see any more moisture. I broke down and paused packing to run around the area where we were camping and risk taking a few photos of the changed landscape. Fortunately the camera seemed to be working fine!
This scene was about a hundred yards south of our campsite. The sun was still pretty low in the sky, spilling in from the left, and I tried to catch a view of the mountain peeking through.
Specific Feedback
Does the composition work for you?
My intention with this image was to contrast the clarity of the foreground with the opacity of Jefferson. (I would have liked a little less fog in that upper left corner, but wasn’t able to catch that before dashing to try a couple other compositions.) Setting up the tripod I liked the way the meadow flowed in from the left and pointed towards the mountain, but I really did just snap a couple before moving on; I wasn’t as careful as I might normally be with the composition. A wider view left the bottom left corner empty and there is a taller tree just to the right, so in my hurry I found this composition to be the most balanced. I do wish it was a little shorter thought, so here’s a transformed version just for fun.
This was the view (from our campsite) with that cup of coffee I mentioned. You can see the rock and low trees anchoring the above image just to the right of the center of this image.
Beautiful photo. I thought the original was great, but the second does feel more open in some way. The foreground trees look a bit distorted horizontally, but only in comparison with the original.
John, this is truly magical. The light is spectacular. I like your comp as well. It leads me into the image and your thought to make foreground/background contrasts works quite nicely. I feel the transformed version is much more open, relaxing, pleasing. I know it may not reflect reality, but it works nicely for me. You guys knocked it out of the park on this trip. Awesome!
Fantastic John! I really like your comp and how you used that rock and young trees as your foreground - we walked by those a thousand times and I never gave them a thought. I like the transformed version as well, but it does distort the little trees a bit.
I like the narrower image you posted over the transformed version. I find that all those vertical elements in the composition work well for the narrow aspect ratio. You guys had some really great conditions. Every one is a winner, and that’s not that common. I confess I am envious. Especially because I like closer to this area than any of you.
John: Great conditions and a wonderful capture of a special moment. The fog is just right for my tastes. As for the comparison of the two aspect ratios, this is a tough one for me. I see and shoot a lot of vertical comps so I like the original but the 4:5 format looks great for printing. Both are outstanding. >=))>
For me, this is a terrific composition. Whether the eye starts in the bright mountain or in the richly detailed foreground, the terrain’s S-curve and the middleground luminosity tie it all together, with tall trees on left and right channeling the eye travel. I tried dodging (History brush/Screen) some of the foreground heather on the left to accentuate terrain and also the darker areas of the rocks and bottom. That also brightened up some of the paintbrush to match their comrades.
Just gorgeous, of course. Running out of superlatives. I love the atmospherics created by the fog, AND that you found and included the clarity of the foreground. This is a masterful composition.
I didn’t full pay attention to your commentary while viewing the two versions and I was perplexed by the two versions. This looked like two different comps, yet all the elements didn’t change… then I read the word “transformed” and finally figured it out.
The vast majority of the time I don’t care for the tall verticals, but in this case I do. I actually think the clarity of the foreground and opacity of Mt. Jefferson are actually separated better in the original and the near/far relationship just seems to work better. Having said that, I’m partial to the 4x5 format and agree with Bill this would work beautifully for printing and framing.
So thankful you all are sharing this adventure with the NPN community.
This is a “Shazam” image for me! It’s just magical. The lighting, the fog, the peak of the mountain in the background. I would expect that fairies would be quite happy to live here. It’s a gorgeous image. Thank you for sharing!
Another gorgeous image with a wonderful composition!! Just gather up all the superlatives (from the whole trip) and repeat them here! I like the breathing room of the wider format but either one is a winner!
John, congratulations on the first place 2023 NPN Yearly Editors’ Pick! Well deserved recognition for this beauty! So glad the moisture was gone in time!
I love the atmospherics created by the fog, AND that you found and included the clarity of the foreground. This is a masterful composition.