I was looking for patterns in the chaos of fall colours, and trying to avoid clichés. At the same time, I was trying to show motion, so I worked with long exposures to smooth the water and get some motion in the leaves.
Specific Feedback Requested
It’s all about the clutter. I can see patterns in the trails of the leaves, and an over-arching line created by the rocks on the shoreline. The moss-covered rocks provide a nice frame. But, overall, the picture is busy. I’m wondering if others see the patterns and the flows, or if it’s just too cluttered. (My intuition is that busy pictures work if the composition makes us want to keep looking.)
Also, due to the long exposure, there are some ghostlike leaves. I’d like to know if that contributes to the sense of motion, or if it is a distraction.
PS. This is my first post, after reviewing many fine pictures. I promise to follow the admins’ advice and contribute my fair share of critiques.
Technical Details
Lens: 16 mm (APS-C, so effectively 25mm)
ISO: 100
Exposure: 4 seconds, F16, ND Filter
Lightroom: punched-up the vibrance on the leaves, and dodged to lighten a dark area near the top.
Welcome to NPN, Warren. What a cool first image. I really like the composition. The leaves do tell a story and provide a sense of place. The blurry leaves are a bit of a distraction, but not enough to be a big concern in my view. I think you hit the vibrance just right.
This is my first post here, so if I step out of line, please let me know.
First of all, I really like the image. It represents all that autumn is and I can practically smell the damp, autumn leaves.
To answer your questions: I do see the patterns and flows in the rocks and leaves. It’s cluttered, but not too much. I’d argue the image is about that clutter, and in that case, showing clutter is actually beneficial. I don’t mind, or find the ghostlike leaves distracting. They add additional interest for me.
Here are some constructive things to try and see if you find the image to be better given your goals for the image. If the image is about the flow and chaos and colors of the fallen leaves, then it’s truly about the shoreline and the leaves that have fallen on the rocks of the shoreline. Including so much water makes the image unbalanced to my eyes and heavier on the right side of the image. There is a rock midway up on the left edge, and to the right of that, there are some leaves. I’d consider cropping in to that point, which should help balance the image and remove the distraction of the brigher areas of water on the left edge. You could also remove a bit from the right edge to just past the bright spot above the moss covered rock that slightly extends out of the right edge. That would make the image truly about the patterns and flow of the leaves and rocks along the shoreline and remove some of the distractions that pull the eyes away from that. You’ll still have motion in the image from the water next to the rocks and ghost leaves. You could play around with the exact crop location - find something that works for the story you’re trying to tell. There are also some bright areas along the top edge in that nice dark rock that keeps our eyes flowing along the shoreline. Burning those would help to remove that distraction. One way I like to edit is looking elsewhere in the image while manipulating the sliders - until that “distraction” no longer pulls my eyes in my peripheral vision. So, look at the leaves in the foreground, while bringing down the exposure of those brighter areas in the rock near the top edge - do this until your peripheral vision no longer “sees” those areas.
Hope this helps. I really love the Pac Man in the rocks (or perhaps it’s an eel’s head) and think the composition is very interesting. Finding a non-cliché image of autumn colors is becoming more and more difficult. You’ve done a nice job here.
Terrel, thanks for the constructive feedback. I’m playing some more with cropping, and with toning-down some of the distracting highlights. I think in the future, I’d also shoot it with a polarizer rather than the ND filter, to reduce some of the glare in the water.
Welcome to NPN! A great first post. Glad to have you here!
Kudos to you for seeking autumn images outsidte the box. Indeed, falling autumn leaves are about clutter and I think you’ve done a great job crafting this one. The colors and processing all look great and natural. I love the shoreline of water, rocks and leaves; in fact that is where the story of the image lies.
For me, I find the darker, shaded rock up top creates a little heavy imbalance with the nicely colored leaves and blue-gray rock. Perhaps a further crop and a little dodging will reduce that imbalance.
Hope you don’t mind, but I thought I would try a crop to illustrate. I also increased the shadows a bit. Since the main subject is the left half, I cropped some off the right, which also removed the brighter pinkish leaf in the LRC, lower right corner that was a bit of an eye magnet.
You’ve got a wonderful autumn scene and again kudos for seeking out something other than the obvious when it comes to fall photography.
Thanks, Lon! I appreciate the honest feedback. (If I want likes I have Instagram.) I like the way you’ve cropped it, especially lightening-up the rock in the TR. I think I’ll use that.
This is a great group; I’m glad I stumbled across it.
