The Narrows Again

This is two exposures blended for the canyon and the sky.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

Any and all.

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Any and all.

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)

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I think I know exactly where you have taken this, those trees are just gorgeous. I feel that the composition is a little imbalanced from left to right. The rocks on the UL and LL corners are somewhat pulling my eyes there. Perhaps a tighter crop would solve that? If it were mine, I would remove the person, too.

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I really like the overall balance of the water rocks and sky. I wish the person was either not there or had bright colored jacket on to stand out more. The trees I think work well to add some color to an otherwise generally dark scene. I also really think the low angle works very well.

I think the person adds scale to the image and should be kept in. The foreground doesn’t work for me. It totally overpowers the image . I think it would be a better image if it was cropped as a square, including all of the top.

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I agree with Tony. It feels like two images bisected in the middle. That’s because they’re very different and there is no visual lead in from on to the other and also because they are equal in ‘weight’. The proposed crop gives one side dominance over the other.

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Gorgeous trees indeed. And I really like the amount of texture retained in the water. To my taste the shutter speed is spot on for the river.

I agree that the river and the canyon walls/sky don’t connect. To me, my eye is pulled toward the sky and out of the frame. It might be possible to raise the camera higher and angle it down more so that the frame ends at mid-canyon wall/around the top of the tree. With the right framing of the lines in water, you’d be led to the subject—the trees—without the eyes being pulled to the sky.

I’m jealous of your visit to the Narrows. I didn’t make it there when we were in Zion. Cheers

Thanks, @Adhika_Lie, @Tony_Siciliano, @Igor_Doncov, @Adam_Bolyard, @Keith_Flood for the input. I made some fairly drastic changes in the shaping of the light in particular and did a major rework. Hope this works better in leading the eye and is more pleasing.

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I like the changes you did but I could not help to try Tony’s suggestion. I think he is on to something! This is not quite square but this crop still creates a more balanced image between the foreground and background. There is something special about the rock spire centered and lit by the sunlight that I think deserves a more prominent position in the image vs. being overshadowed by competing with the water foreground if that makes sense?

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Real nice, Greg. Went back and forth between the original and the repost and I guess I slightly prefer the repost. I didn’t have a problem with the composition in the first but the second is a little cleaner. I do prefer with the person removed but this is a matter of personal taste.

I do like what @Keith_Flood gets with that choice of crop!

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I like the vortex look in Keith’s composition.

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I agree with @Tony_Siciliano and @Igor_Doncov. There’s a lot going on in this image. The dramatic foreground water with its movement and vivid shining rocks is, to me, almost a separate image. Cropping as suggested would help. I have no problem with the person in the image.

Thanks @Dave_Dillemuth, @Keith_Flood for the input and Keith for taking the time to crop the shot. I can see what you are talking about Keith but I this isn’t the type of shot I would do this kind of crop to. I occasionally use this crop on broad waterfall arenas but shots like this I would go 5x7 or 2x3. To me this crop makes my eye wander to much away from the subject. Which to me is the water leading to the peak. Granted this isn’t the strongest leading lines I have ever shot but I think there is enough that I wouldn’t crop out that much from the bottom. But that is my personal taste. Thanks again for the input.

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