Snowstorm approaching: Bunkering down

Image Critiques Landscape Critiques
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Catana_Snowstorm approaching.jpg
Catana_Snowstorm approaching.jpg1500Ă—613 269 KB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

The weather in Iceland in March can be tricky, alternating between sunny days and days with snow and strong winds. On this particular day in late March, my daughter and I had departed from Reykjavik in good weather and went to Snaefellsnes, a peninsula located on the South-West coast of Iceland. As we approached the Western part of Snaefellsnes, the weather got worse: A snowstorm was approaching, and it was a matter of hours before it would be impossible to see anything. As I stood on the shore of Snaefellsnes, the storm was coming in full force, darkening the sky with snow and sending the clear message that it was time to bunker down. The photo was captured at that very edge of the storm. Later that day, having waited some time, especially before passing bridges exposed to strong winds, we got safely back to Reykjavik.

Specific Feedback

I would be grateful for comments on composition and tonalities. I have chosen the panoramic format in order to emphasize the horizontal lines in the sand the snow coming in from the left. Moreover, the diagonal caused by the rocks to the right is emphasized by that format. In terms of composition, I have striven to balance the dark mass of the rocks on the right with the lighter and more solitary rocks on the left side. As I see the image, the snow-patterned sand and the snow in the air, which separates the rocks on the right side from the rocks on the left side, establish tensions in terms of balance, texture and tonalities. These tensions are manifest in the scene itself, but they are also tensions that may stand as a metaphor for something else. Do you have alternative suggestions in terms of composition and tonalities? Does that make sense to you? Suggestions?

One last thing: I did not remove the snowflakes close to the camera, e.g. upper left corner, even though they may appear as dust spots. I omitted doing so partly in order to stay true to the scene, partly in order bypass a tendency in landscape photography that I am not that keen on, namely, to “purify” and “perfect” the image to a degree makes nature look like sterile, manmade design. As I see things, dirtiness and imperfection is part of nature’s beauty.

Technical Details

Camera: Nikon D850
Lens: Sigma 35 mm f1.4
Capture: f9, ISO 400, 1/100 sec.

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I enjoyed looking at this photo - especially after I downloaded it to look at a large size. Your tonality is great - I can see detail in both the highlights (excluding “sky”) and darks. The snow makes apparent diagonal strata in the background rocks - different from the foreground rocks.

Your photo does give me a sense of tension due to the imbalance left / right. I believe tension is released if the photo is cropped on the lhs to close to the lhs snow hazed rock stack. The question is if you wish to show the calm before the storm or the tension before the storm.

For me, the patterns in the sand are an additional plus, removing what could have been an uninteresting area.

Well done

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Great tone and you caught the energy of the storm !!! A simple image which I love !!! Really nice.

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You do come up with some wonderful and thoughtful images. This is another one. Aside from the compositional considerations there is the subject itself. I wouldn’t call this a melancholy image. I would call it menacing. There is a sense of danger and fear about it. It comes from the large foreground dark mass and is echoed faintly with the rocks on the left. But mostly it comes from the near rock that’s dark and jagged. The only wish would be that the dark rock didn’t run off the bottom of the frame, that there was some snow between it and the bottom of the frame.

1 Like
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It’s an excellent photo, Leo. You get depth from the different tones, with lighter features in the background and darker ones in the middle and foreground.

I think the composition is good. I agree with Igor that it would be good to have a lighter area below the foreground rocks. Obviously, I don’t know what you’re working with down there, and that may not be practical.

As for tones, I’d consider lightly dodging the dark areas of the foreground rock formation, particularly at the bottom. You’d still have ample contrast and I’d like to see a little more of the details in the shadows. This is a small point.

Very well done.

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Hi Leo,
This is a wonderful B&W composition with a nice range of tones. I like the arrangement of shapes and undulating lines on the beach; particularly those on the left half of the image. I do like the diagonal rock in the FG, but I find myself wishing that it was not cut off. You captured the feeling of the impending snow storm beautifully with the snow streaks on those BG rocks as well as the snow covered sand. I see another image in this scene; a twofer if you will. I hope you do not mind, but here is a rework with my favorite part of the scene. Just my opinion of course. Very nicely done.

Catana_Snowstorm approaching
Catana_Snowstorm approaching740Ă—547 204 KB

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This drips with mood Leo, like something out of a fantasy. I like your choices for the reasons you state. I especially enjoy what the blowing snow adds when viewed large.

I can see the point about snow at the bottom of the rock if that was an option, but for me it is a small thing and no worries if that wasn’t an option.

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@Rob_Sykes , @Gill_Vanderlip , @Igor_Doncov , @Don_Peters , @Ed_Lowe , @John_Williams , thank you so much for your comments, I really appreciate them. Since the issue of the lower part was pointed out by Igor, I upload the image uncropped. Here is my thinking behind the version that I uploaded for critique: There surely are some very interesting textures and patches of snow on the rock in the foreground, but I cropped it out because it makes the image quite heavy at the bottom, and because this foreground distracts from the undulating lines on the sand and the tension between the jagged rocks on the right and the more distant rocks to the left. What are your thoughts? Other suggestions for cropping are welcome.

D85_9896 2025-8-23
D85_9896 2025-8-231200Ă—800 369 KB

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Leo, this is why I love NPN. It’s so full of differing opinions that it’s a wonder we ever learn anything. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
I’m gonna add another. I actually prefer your uncropped image with the snow on the FG and the small pyramid nestled in the v shape over the pano version. I also like @Ed_Lowe’s idea of an image within the image. It really emphasises the wind with the blowing snow.

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Personally I like the original as well. I’m not sure it’s any inferior to the cropped version. It’s just different. Now it has more of a marine iguana look, a reptilian look. I actually don’t like to make such comparisons but end up doing it anyway.

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@Michael_Lowe , @Igor_Doncov , thanks for your comments on the uncropped image. It is kind of funny to end up in this situation, but it shows the value of NPN: The forum offers the possibility to bounce off ideas and get constructive and sometimes surprising feedback. Thanks! I’m still in doubt, but I’ll leave the two versions on my desk for some weeks before making any decision.

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I’m going to fall in line too Leo. I like both, but prefer the uncropped version. That foreground rock now anchors the image in a way that the original crop does not. I think it provides a better eye flow, now allowing the distant rocks to be contrast, not competition.

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@John_Williams , Thanks for your comment!

1 Like