Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
I was excited to visit the Badlands a few years ago and took hundreds of photos, but none seem to “pop” the way other landscape photographs do. I like the picture but it seems to be missing something in my mind. I’m still new to landscapes.
Canon R6
Canon RF 15-35
1/50
f20
ISO 100
19mm
Hi Greg. Welcome back to NPN. I’m new here myself - so please take any comments with a grain of salt. I really like your bird photo as well by the way.
This is a very interesting scene - I think you should be able to make it pop. You definitely have plenty to work with. From this original composition, I might only wish you had a bit more of the close foreground - but let’s not worry about that.
Your composition is 50-50 - so I think you need to chose sky or Badlands. I would recommend badlands and crop out about half of the sky. That will leave a more moody sky behind, which should work really well.
Then, I think with some selective dodging and burning, you can emphasize the ridges and valleys in the rocks - with a focus on looking for ways to tie the composition together as well as support a clear center of focus.
I see a path through the composition, all those valleys seem to “pour” into a low point that wraps around the middle distance.
Look forward to seeing more of your work!
Bill
Thanks, Bill. I appreciate it. I’ll see what I can do.
I’d love to photograph the badlands someday; I’m jealous of your trip! You’ve captured a great view of the dramatic geology, and the way the canyons funnel the eye out to the distance and to the right is awesome.
“Pop” is a hard one, because if you ask photographers what it is you’d probably get a different answer from each of them. With that said though, I think it builds from the moment you decide to take an image and I find it helpful to take a step back and ask “What’s attracting me to this scene?” The follow up question I try not to forget is “What’s detracting from the attraction?”
For me with this image, the answer to the first question is the the amazing textures/colors/lines of the badland geology, with those great clouds a nice bonus. The answer to the second is the lower left corner and the flat lighting on the geology compared to the eye-grabbing brightness of the clouds.
Careful composition can sometimes remove or minimize something like the left corner (the rest of the composition looks great to me), and the side lighting of early/late light can do a lot for flat landscapes, but once you are home it is down to processing.
Increasing contrast in the hills, to better compete with the clouds, and reducing contrast in the lower left corner are targets I would work toward. There’s a central darkness with brighter edges here, and I find that many photos are improved by reversing that. Here’s a crude example of thoughts thoughts with this image:
John, I really appreciate the information you provided. Thanks for the help. Your version does look better to me.
