At the end of February this year, I drove to Acadia National Park to spend a week photographing the park. It’s about a 12 hour drive from my home, so it’s not something I can do regularly. Most of the park circle drive was closed. The appx. 1.8 mile Ocean Drive was open and a very small stripe of road that got you to Jordon’s Pond. I spent a big part of the five days walking which is the best way to enjoy this park. It had been 30 yrs. since I was there and I wasn’t into photography then. On this trip, I wanted to see and take some of the iconic photographs that have been taken millions of time, but I was also hoping to find some compositions that weren’t so familiar. It was a magnificent trip and I hope to return in the near future to focus more on finding more unique compositions.
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the image.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I took this photo early the first morning at Eagle Lake. As you can see, it was very foggy and even the outlines of the bubbles (the name of several mounds in the far distance that this lake is known for) were hidden by the thick fog. It didn’t look like it would be lifting anytime soon so I almost left, but I decided to walk a little into the forest trail to see if I could find anything. I shortly got to the edge of the water where the trail ended. A scene I saw there looked like a possibility, but I would have to get further out in the water to get a clean shot. Luckily there were some beautiful flat stones not too far out in the water where I could set up a tripod. I figured it was worth a try, but I had to return to my car to get my water boots in order not to get soaked walking to the stones. The photo I’m posting is that shot. I loved the lines that the separated cracks in the water made. They pointed your eye through the two stones in front of them to the open ice and fog bank. I like it for it’s simplicity.
I’m not an experienced enough photographer to think about entering a photo of mine into a competition. I’m a retired hobbyist that is driven to improve as much as possible just for my own satisfaction. I think it would be a good learning experience and fun to hear what you would think if you critiqued my photo as if I had entered it in a competition You will not hurt my feelings if you say it wouldn’t go the second round, but it would be interesting if you could tell me why.
Thank you for taking your time to help us all improve our photography. Your generosity is most appreciated.
Hi Donna. I know im not the interesting party to have a critique from but I thought i would throw in some thoughts anyway. I also visited Arcadia about 30 years ago on a family trip. I have fond memories of our short time there. I really like the composition of the shot. I can see myself taking a similar photo. I also enjoyed your story about having to get boots in order to get out to the spot you wanted. Spring ice can be very interesting. For me, what would bring the shot up to the next level would be to have some more contrast between the water and the ice. They are similar colors and i think that they would ‘pop’ more if the sky had been more colorful. Nice shot and glad you enjoyed your trip.
What a beautiful scene. I, too, love it’s simplicity and the clean lines of the ice cracks. Don’t want to step on toes, but I have three suggestions. First, that rock in the LLC really anchors my eye there. I do look up and out from the cracks, but my eye keeps landing on the LLC rock. To me, it reduces the simplicity of the scene and the effects of the linear cracks. And even though there you have those wonderful lines leading up into the frame, I get a sense of horizontal-ness, also - calmness. Perhaps cropping to a different aspect ratio to enhance the calm feeling (which to me gives more interest to the scene because it is in contrast to the angled lines). Second, the horizon is a bit off (down to the right)- about 1.5 degrees. And finally, making the feeling of coldness more apparent by cooling it just a teeny bit. I gave it a try - hope you don’t mind. As far as the sky blending into the ice, I rather like that aspect of this. Really a lovely photo!
@Cameron_Wilcox Thanks Cameron. I’m happy to have you critique my photo. I will take a look at your suggestion to see if bringing in more contrast in the water helps. If you ever get the chance to go there again, do it. There is so much opportunity for good compositions especially if you stray a little from the park areas.
@Bonnie_Lampley I love that you took the time to help me with this image. I’m all about improving and this is the best way to have that happen. You are right on all three suggestions. I really struggled with the BC stone. I really liked that stone. In my head, I knew I should take it out, but my heart was fighting against that . Well, I did say I liked the simplicity of this image, so I need to make that happen as best I can. I took the stone out and have to confess that I like it better. Thanks for giving me that push. I also cropped it to a 5 by 7 and chose to crop off some of the R side. I’ve improved on getting the WB correct, but I sure didn’t catch the small yellow cast until I tweaked the temp. Your type of critique is exactly what this photo needed. Thanks.
Oh do I ever know of what you speak. This happens to me all the time. Just because something is there and I took care over it, doesn’t mean it works or belongs. So. Hard. To. Crop. But I think Bonnie is right and the image is stronger without the rock. Now, if you have any of just it…I think she’s onto something again.
What a great image for discussion. If you go back and play with isolating instead of the grand scene, I’d go crazy and also try for some that only included the smaller rock on the right and those great ice patterns leading into it, taking out the other rocks and the background. That would be more intimate, but fun to compare.
Hi Donna, How wonderful to be relatively close to Acadia. I’m on the other coast and had planned a trip there a few years ago but had to cancel due to an injury. Oh well.
Anyway, this is a very cool image that works well and would be competition worthy. It’s also screams for a B&W version. Those lines in the ice foreground pull my eye into the scene. I like the version without the rock too.
@Bonnie_Lampley@Cameron_Wilcox@Kris_Smith@David_Bostock@John_Williams If you’re interested I just did a repost on this image. I took your advice to try a different composition and David’s advice on making it a B&W. I’ve had very little experience processing B&W, so I hope I did an ok job. I did a load of cloning to get the lone rock, but I hope it paid off. Thanks for encouraging me to try this.
I agree with Bonnie’s feedback here… The change works really well.
If I had been there in person I would have also played with moving left a little and trying to exclude the spit of rock on the left hand side and make the photograph about the sweep of the left hand leading line.
The shape and pattern of the ice around the rocks is lovely though. Well seen indeed!
Hi Tim, thank you for taking time to view my image. I was as far left as I could be. You can’t tell in the photo, but the land jetted out toward the lake and there were trees and bushes on it . I would have needed to get in the lake to go more left for a clean shot and I would have broken through the ice and been to close to get much of the sculptured ice. I did walk further down the trail to get a nice shot, but there was just smooth ice on the lake. Thanks.
Sorry Tim, I thought you had critiqued the photo for the one I posted a while back for entering photo contests. However, I did have the same problem for this shot. I had to get in the water to walk over to a flat stone to get out of the way of trees and bushes. Thanks for the critique.
. Well, I did say I liked the simplicity of this image, so I need to make that happen as best I can. I took the stone out and have to confess that I like it better. Thanks for giving me that push. I also cropped it to a 5 by 7 and chose to crop off some of the R side. I’ve improved on getting the WB correct, but I sure didn’t catch the small yellow cast until I tweaked the temp. Your type of critique is exactly what this photo needed. Thanks.