Structure and softness

Image Critiques Landscape Critiques
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Structure and softness
Structure and softness1440Ă—2140 534 KB

I was attracted to the spiny structure of the tree juxtaposed to the softness of the vegetation in this canyon in Moab.

Specific Feedback Requested

any welcome

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
160mm f/14 1 sec

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I like this image. I think you had good vision to see this and a creative sense to recognize it as a composition. The focus is really soft everywhere. I’m wondering if that’s due to a choice in processing.

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I like the framing and the actual elements in this scene along with the strong Golds and greens below the burnt out, dead tree top center. Like Igor, I can’t tell if you had high wind and simply took advantage of it or if this is intentional camera movement. Even the thick branches and sticks are blurry so if it was just a breeze I don’t think those would be moving much which would actually make for an interesting scene where the structures like the branches are sharp but the leaves are blowing making the image alive. Anyway, I can’t tell exactly what took place here but I think for this to work the structure needs to be sharp. The composition is strong enough to try this again and maybe crop a little bit off the top.

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Thank you @Igor_Doncov @David_Haynes for your comments. I think the problem is multifactorial. One, this is an aggressive crop of a larger image (I wish I saw this smaller composition directly in the field). Two, the 1 sec exposure on a breezy day added to the problem.

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Sorry Mario; this one is just not working for me. The color palette is quite nice and I like the way you arranged the elements in the scene, but the overall softness/ blur really does not work; at least for me. Do you have any frames that are sharper?

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Ed I appreciate the comments. I do not have a cleaner version. Seems the composition was strong but technically not up to snuff…next time. If I had to do over I would have upped iso and reduced shutter speed but also framed the composition directly not a large crop.

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Mario, I have to agree, this is an image with great colors and a good concept, but the technical issues are hard to look past, and it required a different approach in the field. I agree with David Haynes that the softness in the spiny branches is just too much for the image to be appealing.

But it’s not like you didn’t come away with a bunch of other good images from this trip, I have enjoyed the rest of your shots in this series.

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