The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
The famous Snake River Overlook, Grand Teton National Park. The composition by itself is ok at best, but the last light of the day made the image in my opinion. Shot with 3x2 aspect ratio. Thought about a 16x9, but it would either loose the too much of clouds at the top at the top or too much of the Snake River at the bottom for my liking.
Specific Feedback
I’m curious as to what folks think of the overall composition and the capture of the light and colors. Also, any feedback on the edit would be welcomed.
Technical Details
Shot at 50 mm, 0.4 sec, f11, ISO 64. Post processed in Adobe LRC and Photoshop.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Vision and Purpose:
Conceptual:
Emotional Impact and Mood:
Composition:
Balance and Visual Weight:
Depth and Dimension:
Color:
Lighting:
Processing:
Technical:
Regarding processing- even for this time of day, I think the FG is a little dark. At least at first glance. If you keep looking at it, the eyes adjust somewhat. The horizon has a slight CCW tilt.
I’ve never been to this location, but it’s quite the grand vista and I can see why it’s a popular place for photography.
I think the overall compositions works well, but I would consider cropping out that tree on the left edge.
It looks like the reality of what you captured, but that bright strip at the top leads the eye away from the better interest below. It might be worth playing with dropping the luminosity there. I think @Michael_Lowe is correct about the shadows, and opening those some would also help keep the eye lower in the scene. And finally, there may be a slight blue cast? You might play with moving the highlights/midtones a littl towards yellow and see what you think.
I was just there about 2 months ago and yes, this is not the same scene that Ansel got to shoot. The trees have grown up and blocked the view of almost all of the river so it’s impossible to get the scene that he captured. To your other point, yeah, it’s not a very dramatic scene anymore but with the right light which you had, you can certainly make something out of it. I love the glow in. the sky just beyond the rivers bend and nicely placed in the composition. I would think about losing the tree on the right edge of the frame. The Tetons are hard to get the horizon right. They naturally slope downhill from right to left so leveling the foreground which is not flat can make the scene go wonky sometimes. I think you could pull a little bit more shadows out of the foreground trees but I wouldn’t go too far. At this time of the day those trees are almost black. Great capture of a past Icon.
Hi Steven,
You have gotten some very good suggestions so far and my thoughts are pretty much in line with what has already been suggested. I do like the rework that @Michael_Lowe posted. I too would crop that tree from the right edge. That is quite the warm glow between the peaks. Nice to see a post from you again.
@David_Haynes , @Ed_Lowe , Thank you for your suggestions, David. I appreciate them. Ed, thank you for your input too. Yes, it has been a while since I posted.
