Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Grabbed this shot perched with my tripod between a couple rocks in the river near Hope Valley, south of Lake Tahoe, a great spot for fall colors in Northern California. Any general thoughts on the processing? Spots to dodge/burn more? Appreciate any feedback!
Sony A7ii
16-35mm f/4 lens @ 17mm
f/14
2.0 sec
The rocks and water are imaginative while the trees are realistic. I would not have combined the two although I know I’m the exception in this thinking. I would have tried to create an image that is more consistent in that respect - one or the other. Like so:
Hi Aaron, what a beautiful image! The fall colors are terrific and they nicely complement how blue the water is. I like your composition, and how the viewers eye can explore in between the rocks without being distracted or drawn away from the image as a whole, if that makes sense.
I would however experiment with cropping out the top left of the image as the deep green foliage of the tree there and some of the exposed roots do tend to distract my eye and pull me away from the rest of the scene. Alternatively, it might be worth trying to lift the shadows for that corner a little bit more so it doesn’t have as much of a presence. Overall, I think this is a great image!
Hi Aaron,
what a beautiful fall scene. I can very well understand why you should visit this spot in the fall.
I like the composition with the different rocks sticking out of the water. They create nice diagonals that lead the eye into the image. And the vibrant fall colors in the background are a real eye-catcher.
Shutter speed is always a matter of personal preference. I prefer slightly shorter shutter speeds when I shoot scenes like that. I’d love to see just a little bit more structure in the water in the foreground.
The blurred water area in the center foreground is quite bright and draws my eye. Maybe your image would benefit from burning that slightly.
I have a question about the colors and the white balance. The image looks quite cool and saturated overall.
I also looked at your beautiful website (great work by the way) and found the same picture there. The version on your website looks a lot warmer and not so saturated. Did you process it differently?
Again, a great image. I could spend hours shooting stuff like that.
Well done!
Hey now - what a great spot. Photographing rivers and streams, especially in fall, is one of my favorite things to do. The roaring presence and power is such a draw. I can see why you parked your tripod here.
For a wider, more encompassing scene, this works ok. It isn’t very wide and I think the arrangements of the boulders is balanced. Further cropping will benefit and enhance it. The foliage, however, is competing a lot with the water and that is an issue for me. As a viewer I’m wondering what you want me to look at - the trees because you’ve saturated them so heavily and probably increased their brightness, or the water because of it’s naturally lighter luminosity and overall placement. Igor’s crop gives you an idea of what I mean - he is making a statement that says - look at me. That crop is deliberate, while this feels waffling.
It is subjective, but oh, the processing here looks too harsh and forced for my eye. The water looks too blue, the shadows too lifted and the foliage a bit garish. White balance should be warmer, too (was that dead tree on the left really blue?). There are no natural highs and lows of luminosity to work through - it’s all cranked up and it doesn’t invite me in. The highlights are very strong and all over - I just don’t know how to flow through this photo. Again, very subjective so take it the way it’s meant - one person’s reaction and preference.
A more subtle approach might work here and I’d be curious to see the raw file for comparison. It’s got the bones of a captivating scene for sure.
Hi all. Really appreciate all the thoughts. Did a 4x5 crop to create a more structured scene. Hoping now the water leads the eye more clearly to the bright yellow leaves. I darkened the top right corner a bit to draw the eye more to the left yellow leaves. Also warmed up the WB per Kristen and Jens suggestion.
Started over again from the raw as the foliage did get a bit over-processed. Some simpler edits on this version.
Nice change. Thanks for being open to suggestion and revisiting this engaging scene. I like the alterations.
Site tip - If you do make changes and have a second edit, you can add that to your original post by clicking the pencil (edit) icon at the bottom of your post. This allows us to compare both photos in the viewer one after the other. You can also edit the title with something like + 1 Rework or similar to alert the group that you have done it.
Thanks for the tips. I’m back on here after a 10 year or so hiatus. 
Aaron, There’s much to say about this nice image. From the comments, you see that there are many ways to see an image like this. I favor @Igor_Doncov’s crop - it zeros in on the image as an intimate landscape. But, the crop you made after considering @Jens_Ober and @Kris_Smith’ comments also works well. I like the toned down saturation as you have it in that crop. My preference would be for a somewhat longer shutter speed to show more detail in the water - that’s a matter of personal taste. I also agree with @Jens_Ober about burning the whites in the water. It looks a bit hot to me. Overall, you have a successful image. Congratulations.
