Any feedback most welcome!
Hi John…I like the pattern of these stacks of wood here. They make a nice graphic pattern broken up just enough to make me linger a little longer. I will say that I would imagine the shot being a bit more impactful if it was more like a 4:5 crop in landscape. I think cropping out the dark top branches of the pine tree would help as they are dark and draw my eye from the pattern of stacked wood. Also, I wish there was a way to perhaps vignette or direct the viewer a little more centrally where the action is. The similar luminance values of the surrounding ground and tree trunk makes the stacked wood stand out based on pattern only and may do better if there was some luminance features that made them stand out even more. Finally, I wonder if it would be possible to clone out the white rope as it too seems to be a distraction to my eye, competing with the pattern of the 3 major stacks of wood.
Thanks Jim. I reposted based on your suggestions. See what you think. Regarding the vignette suggestion: My goal with this type of image is not so much showing a main subject but creating a collage of shapes and textures that keeps the eye moving through the image, if that makes sense. So vignetting would defeat my purpose but perhaps my goal is faulty. I’d love your thoughts. JT
I think this is much better! Based on your description, this seems to much better accomplish your goals. Now, the tree trunk plays a bigger part, a harmonious part, but a bigger part adding to the overall appearance. Well done!
Thanks Jim for your suggestions. BTW - I’m enjoying browsing your website. JT
1 Like
The repost is a much more intriguing construction. The first is more what you would expect. Both are a bit busy in my opinion.
I think the cropped rework is a tighter and more effective composition. It makes the graphic pattern of the cord-wood much more prominent in the image. to me the three groups of wood are the real star here, and you don’t need as much breathing room around it, the cropped image still has some pretty effective framing elements in the composition. I might suggest to emphasize it even further by adding some stronger vignetting to the frame edges to emphasize the wood more.
I think the B&W processing is very well handled, the rich blacks help to emphasize the texture of the wood nicely.
Classic scene. Either crop works for me. What isn’t working is the overall uniformly high contrast. I understand that you want the viewer’s eyes to wander the frame, but I think when everything in the frame is of the same contrast, it feels odd. Maybe because in real life our eyes/minds are so good at paying attention to one thing in a scene and unconsciously relegating the “background” to the background. So, in that vein, I tried applying negative clarity, texture, and dehaze (in ACR) to the background. To my eyes, this brings out the cool wood piles, but still lets us know that there are interesting trees and textures in the background, too. And I wouldn’t clone out that rope - it adds a great story-telling element to this. After all, this isn’t a “pristine nature shot”, it’s a man-in-the-landscape story.
4 Likes
Excellent Bonnie! That works much better. I appreciate the explanation also. Just to be clear - You used negative values for clarity, texture and dehaze? Agree on the rope. Thanks for taking the time to rework this. Much appreciated. JT
1 Like
(I accidentally deleted my reply 
) @John_Teti_Sr_46, yes, negative values. I put a radial filter over the wood stacks, with the effect to the outside. I also decreased the exposure of that area a bit because when you do negative clarity, it makes things brighter.
1 Like
Terrific. Thanks Bonnie!