The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Skógafoss Waterfall, Iceland. This is actually a panorama made from 3 photos. I did remove a bunch of people and a few distractions. Not the best light.
Specific Feedback
Looking for any and all constructive criticism. How is the crop? The composition? The shutter speed? Anything you would do differently?
Technical Details
This is a panorama from 3 images. ISO 64, 30 mm, f/8.0, 0.5 sec.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
I really enjoy looking at this image @elizabeth. I think the composition works especially well, taking my eye on a journey to the falls from downriver! I also like the flat lighting, no dramatic lighting needed for the cool winter scene in my opinon. The trail leading up to the observation platform at the top right of the image is a bit distracting, especially the vertical portion. Since you already removed other distracting elements, I might continue that by removing the trail or at least the people and platform and the dark vertical portion of the trial. One other idea would be to brighten the bare rocks on either side of the waterfall a tad, just to draw the eye to the main attraction in this image. One last nit is there looks to be a teal/greenish halo/circle on the snow, right side, just downstream from the fall. I do really like the shutter speed chosen, shows water movement without being to “fluffy” which I myself tend to slow moving water down too much. But I do really like how you did this wintery water scene. What an experience to be in Iceland in winter!
Hi Elizabeth, Thanks for sharing this lovely waterfall scene with us. The scale of this tremendous falls quite awe inspiring! The composition flows nicely from the rushing river foreground to the roar and spray of the falls behind. I do have a couple of concerns though. Like Keith, I find the people you left in and the walkway infrastructure is distracting. The other concern is the artifacts around the edges of the dark rocks around the falls and at the rim of the hill against the sky. Thanks for sharing this lovely place with us.
@guy@Keith_Flood Thank you both for the helpful feedback! I had to really zoom in to see those artifacts you both mentioned. I’ll work on making the improvements you both suggested and post the result.
Lovely composition of a beautiful scene, @elizabeth. As @Keith_Flood mentioned, your shutter speed is perfect for this scene, leaving the waterfall and river with some nice texture. I experimented with a slight crop from the top as the sliver of sky on the right, above the hill, is a bit distracting. Thanks for sharing. This is wonderful.
@Bret_Edge Thank you for your input! I’ve been working on a rework based on @Guy and @Keith_Flood suggestions, I’m just not quite ready to post it yet.
I’d be curious what your crop was. I have played around with cropping some of the sky out, but I am not sure I like cutting the mountain off on one side.
I uploaded two new versions of this image - I would be very interested in people’s thoughts. I eliminated the walkway and observation deck people found distracting. I also tried to eliminate the artifices that @guy mentioned- was I successful? In addition, I tried to bring out the colors a little more.
I am struggling with what to do about the sky. I uploaded two different crops. In one sense I like to show the tops of the cliff on both sides, but that puts in a lot of bland sky as @Bret_Edge mentioned. One additional advantage of cropping out the top on the right is the observation deck is cropped out rather than removed, but it bothers me losing the top of the cliff too.
Hi Elizabeth, I like the new versions, the color is really working well for you and the removal of the walkways/viewing platform worked really well. I think it gives the hillside a much more natural appearance. Unfortunately I can still see the artifacts at the high contrast areas along the ridgeline and the right hand rocks at the base of the falls. It is easiest to see by going to 200% magnification where it jumps right out.
I like your original crop the best after you’ve removed the trail and people. I think cutting off the hilltop on the right would be the wrong choice. This is just my personal taste but I’m kinda conflicted about the color. IMHO, the color in original is best. But even then, the yellow could be turned down a little. I find the overly warm color of the cliffs in the repost doesn’t fit the scene. Nice image.
I’ve been watching this image grow Elizabeth. You have so much to consider. But here’s something else to consider if you are up for a little trickery, and of course, if it’s ethical to your standards.
I like the removal of the people and walkway.
I know the sky is pretty uninteresting but to me, it conveys the feel of the day. Cold. I would by what ever means you wish, add a touch more sky to give the RHS cliff a little more breathing room.
I love the larger rock in the river on the bottom RHS and would hate to lose it, so I had a play with fore-shortening the FG by way of making a marquee in the bottom third and Edit-Transform-Distort from the bottom up. Then crop from the bottom, so the image is not so squarish.
You could also carefully clone from the bottom rock to about midway keeping the flow of the shore-line.
@glennie Thank you for the suggestion and description of how you did that! I had not thought about giving the mountain more breathing room. I do actually have more of the left had side so I don’t think I would have to get into too much trickery either. Thanks!!!
Well, this is interesting. I’m actually partial to the final image you posted. I thought I’d prefer the sky on the right cropped off but when you do that, it feels to heavy on the right and imbalanced. The third one is fantastic.
