I am 95% happy with this image but I feel that there is something missing. I think it’s the colours, so thought I’d see if there was an opinion on them? I also think that I am starting to see things in the colours that are not even there.
I had a bit of an issue with greens creeping into the highlights and think I have adressed that.
Any other areas of critique you may notice, I’m happy to hear
Sony A7ii | Canon 16-35mm f4L
17mm | 25s | f/16 | ISO50
edited on a screen calibrated for print
Colors look ok to me. But i am not looking at it on a color monitor at the moment. A couple of things that do stand out to my eye. I think a little more Separation between the foreground grass and the tip of the mountain reflection would be nicer. The mountains in the back right center of the frame with the bright spot in it does pull my eye a little and doesn’t really add to the image in my opinion. Possibly a time that a square crop might work. And since the light on the mountain and the reflection are the main parts of the image i wonder if darkening the shadows a bit more would put more focus on them. Overall these are minor critiques. It is a great image.
Hi Ryan. Cheers for leaving some comments. I do see what you mean about the separation between the mountain and the grasses. I agree here. To be honest it was a bit of a compositional compromise I had to make to get the rest of the scene in the way I wanted.
The bright central right light hadn’t bothered me until now, but now I can’t unsee it. I have another shot taken a few secs later that has darker background peaks ans more separation to the main subject. I’ll investigate.
As for the square crop. I think that may harm the foreground too much for my liking here. Especially the lake but I’ll have a play.
Thanks again for the comments. Really appreciate the feedback!
Colours look about right that is certainly true of what I am seeing on the mixed heather and typical moorland grass in Scotland. The mountain could go just about any colour but it looks natural enough. It does seem a little dark and a little contrasty making the sky look slightly unnatural. I like the shot well enough it certainly has an un-mistakeably Scottish flavour to it.
What a gorgeous scene. I love the sensuous line of the edge of the tarn and it’s glassy surface contrasted with the rough grasses. I’m with Ian on the darkness of the sky. I thought that perhaps just a bump up in the lights of the blue sky and tarn to give more depth to the scene might be nice. Here’s my idea (also brought up the highlights in the grasses and burned down the LRC light spot). I don’t think it wrecks the mood too much.
The light is gorgeous here. The tarn works wonderfully as a foreground for the mountain and really does deserve the space allocated to it. I like the dark version of the sky as it gives the image more drama. I think the weakest part of the image is the dry grass in the fg. There’s too much of it and it’s fairly flat. I made a small crop and added some texture just to it to introduce more contrast to give it visual light. I, personally, don’t think it should be lightened.
Wonderful image! I really like the comp, and the contrast in texture and color between the beautifully reflected mountain, sky, and foreground works really well. I like what @Igor_Doncov did with the foreground. This is a winner, Eugene. Thanks for posting it.
@Igor_Doncov Thanks very much. I think the texture adjustment on the grasses had hit the nail on the head. It’s brought it all to life a bit more. I also think I prefer the original composition too. It has a bit more breathing room between the edge of the water and the edge of the frame.
Thanks for the comments about the sky @Ian_Cameron and @Bonnie_Lampley. The sky was actaully a lot darker and more dramatic than it is in this image. I have toned it down from what I felt on the day as i thought it was a bit overkill. I have reduced the clarity in the sky a bit just to soften it up a bit more.
@Ian_Cameron yeah the grasses do go that really deep brown/red colour at this time of year. Just like most of the highlands. This is actaully in Wales though but the mountains respond in a similar way here
Coming in late here, but here goes. The light here is really gorgeous and is the “soul” of this image. As a result the light and colors have a lot of immediate impact for me. I like the original composition, with it’s extra foreground breathing room. Getting the whole of the tarn is critical to the composition, so for me a crop is out of the question. I think the rework by @Bonnie_Lampley helps, I like what she did in the sky (it adds more drama for me), and the dodging of the grass.
My only suggested incremental tweak would be to burn down the highlights in the two mountain ridges in the far distance, placing more emphasis on the main peak. Here is a rework that starts from Bonnies version.
Yeah, I’ve been thinking about @Bonnie_Lampley suggestions more and more today. I think she makes a good point. I am reticent to play with the sky too much as it was quite dark on the day but also think the adjustments add to it.
Those back highlights are bothering me too more and more. I have brought them down a bit more but it all got a bit funky. I have another exposure of the scene where they are less dominant that I’m going to edit up and see. It’s almost identical but it was taken a step closer and 1mm wider.
I’m late to the party and I agree with a lot of what has been said. But to answer your questions about colour and I think that colour is very subjective. But I would tune the colour to have a touch less green in the mix using a curves layer with less green in the mid-tones. For me it allows the blues and reds to pop more.
Thanks Nathan. I think you’re onto something here. I had some issues in printing it with excessive green coming through and toned them down specifically for that.
I’ll have a look at the master file in the way you suggested. Thanks very much for that
