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Questions to guide your feedback
I chose to blur the descriptive text because I didn’t want to unduly influence the reader. I much prefer letting you come to whatever thoughts or feelings that that naturally arise from your own experience and in that way, get your more or less unvarnished response.
Other Information
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Image Description
When we first came upon this section of the canyon I was filled with a sense of power and awe and once I recovered from that, tried to find a way to place my camera to capture it. From the moment I pressed the shutter, I already had a sense of where I wanted to go with this picture in post. But while I knew it had to be in black and white, it wasn’t until I saw the raw file on my monitor that I realized it also needed to be dark in order to accentuate the flow, not only of the water but of the light, which leads the eye down into the roiling pit of the gorge. As I neared completion in post, it occurred to me that I had been influenced in some unconscious way by the Dore lithographs that accompany the Inferno portion of his “Divine Comedy”. I had first seen this illustrated edition as a very young child, even before I could read, and it quickly became my favorite of all the books in my parents’ library.
Another question: do you feel that the ambiguity of scale in this picture enhances or diminishes its power?
Can someone answer this for me: why are these two histograms different? Exactly the same image but the top one is from Ps and the bottom from Lr. Notice that in the bottom one (Lr) the white point is slightly to the left of the right edge indicating the white point is slightly under exposed while in the top one (Ps) it reaches it.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Hi Kerry, Such a fine image you have shared with us. Is this another from the secret canyon? Full of mystery, darkness and light. Your delicate suggestion of shadow detail is spot on, as is the flow and the turbulence below. Quite brilliant (in a dark evocative way…)
I’m a fan of this image.
I like the flow of the image, and the use of texture in the water to create visual interest. The out of focus tree/branch in the FG is my only nit here. Nice work.
My first impression was that it looked like some of the artwork that was done by the Dutch in the late 18th century. I can see the comparison to the work of Dore though. I, too, was exposed to his work at a young age by my grandmother. For some reason it frightened me.
This is really well done. I like this considerably more than the cascade one. Part of the attraction is the mystery of it all. It’s hard to tell where the water ends and the rocks begin. That boundary of knowable and unknowable keeps it interesting. It also has a spiritual quality in that there is light in the darkness. Christianity really gets off on that theme.
Great work! And contemporary in a way. Photographers seem to like images that are predominantly dark with a smattering of light. The workshop I attended seemed to push us in that direction.
Wow! The title gave me the initial impression of descending into the underworld of Greek myth. Such turbulence and chaos in the water and the rush down that small cascade. I love the dark treatment because it give a sense of falling into a dark mysterious unknown. Its quite evocative. I like it.
The first thing that I felt when I saw the image is an emotion. The lights that emerge from the darkness are faint but clear enough to allow us to understand what it is however the image retains all its mystery. All has been said. A beautiful shoot and work.
I meant to get to this earlier, as the thumbnail caught my attention. I can only add a WOW! I love what you have done – the composition and tonalities are simply stunning! Definitely mysterious, maybe a look into another world. The flow of the water and the way the light hits it have created unusual and mysterious shapes.
I think the ambiguity of scale is a tremendous enhancement!
My only very tiny nit is that I wonder about softening the hard dark edge at the start of the flow. I think a more mysterious beginning to the flow could be interesting.
@Igor_Doncov - thanks for your feedback, Igor. Yes, I like this one much more as well. Somehow it feels less generic and more personal that the other. Your comments on boundaries as well as the spiritual quality in the relationship between light and dark are cogent and consistent with my intention. @steven8 - Thanks for your comment, Steven. I have always been a huge fan of American cinema especially the noir of the late 30s, 40s and 50s where lighting was king. I recently watched “Ripley” - a recent limited TV series based on the novel “The Talented Mr. Ripley”. If you haven’t seen it, the black and white cinematography is mind blowing - very, very noir. @Youssef_Ismail - Thanks so much and, yes, you nailed it - “Descent to the Underworld”. @Giuseppe_Guadagno - Thanks so much for taking the time to share your impressions. It is always inspiring to hear that my intention is making its way to the reader. @Diane_Miller - Thanks for your comments. I’ve said it before, I’ll take a “wow” any day, any time. I had thought about doing something to soften the edge of the outflow but, in the end, I decided I liked the power of it emanating, seemingly out of nowhere.
Kerry, this image has a really great flow to it (both literally and figuratively) and the super strong contrast works really well. Actually better that I could have imagined.
To me, this image wonderfully distils the chaos of nature and of moving water to just it’s beauty and absolute power.
@Tom_Nevesely - Thanks for your comments, Tom. I am very pleased with this photograph and your comment about distilling “the chaos of nature and of moving water to just it’s beauty and absolute power” says so beautifully what I hoped this image would convey.
