The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
About This Image
There are a lot of reasons this photograph matters to me besides the finished photograph itself.
As was typically the case when we first visited Newfoundland last September, we discovered that we could camp pretty much anywhere we could park our truck/camper. Locals were fond of saying, “If you don’t see a sign saying, “no parking”, you’re welcome to camp". The only time we ever saw such a sign was one time in a National Park. Anyway, this picture was taken from one of those “you’re welcome” spots off a very lonely stretch of highway right by the ocean. We camped here for several nights and early on I thought there might be a picture right here, practically from where we’d parked. The first evening I had a hunch I might have a nice landscape if the clouds would just break and let the light of the low setting sun through. So, I did exactly as Sam Abell says: “Compose from back to front and wait”. What I thought I was waiting for was an opening in the clouds and sure enough I caught a break. But then, only moments after I took my first few shots, a lone truck came over the hill, and I realized that that was actually what I was waiting for. For me, the lights of that lone truck turned a very nice landscape into an excellent one. But that wasn’t the end of it. After that no other cars or trucks appeared, and the sun dropped below the clouds again. I was afraid I’d missed the shot (I couldn’t get a good look through the EVF and didn’t have access to another screen). So, I was determined to try again the next evening. And so, I did. I set up the shot exactly as I had the evening before – same time of day, same composition – and waited. Finally, a car’s lights poked over the rise. The car’s lights were perfectly placed and I made my photograph. But I later discovered that that photograph turned out to be a dud because I didn’t have the same fortuitous light as the evening before. Fortunately, as I discovered much later, I had gotten the shot the first time around. But the experience really drove home how photography is about the moment and that a moment can’t be replicated. Because it isn’t just about the composition but about so many other factors over which the photographer has no control. While luck favors the prepared, luck or synchronicity still and always will be a factor in making good pictures.
Feedback Requested
What I am aiming for in this image is a sense of melancholy as the day reaches its end. The solitary lights of the truck, the isolated unlit building on the hill, as well as the otherwise empty highway and the scattered boulders on the landscape all, I think, support that feeling. At the same time, I hope there is also a sense of refuge, of going home.
What is your sense of this image? What feelings does it evoke for you?
Technical Details
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Camera:
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Tripod/handheld:
Focus method:
Filters:
Technique:
Conditions:
Processing software:
Major adjustments:
Blending/stacking:
Other notes:
Camera:
Lens:
Focal length:
Shutter speed:
Aperture:
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