The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
What I recall most about this image was the No Trespassing sign in the driveway. It was a rainy morning but I could not resist taking this image. I never did get in trouble for it.
Specific Feedback
There are still small specks of white peeking through the foliage. It doesn’t bother me, does it you?
Technical Details
GFX50R, 45-100mm, f/11
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Another lovely image, Igor. It always amazes me how a single color in nature - green, here - can have so many various shades and levels of saturation. The tiny white specks don’t bother me in the least. Hadn’t even noticed them until I read your description and went back to the image to look for them.
Igor, What’s left to say of your work? Every image is stunning, masterful, and a joy to see.
This is yet another compelling image, with lovely greens and perfect comp.
Igor, the variety of greens in multiple shapes looks excellent. The white spots are perfectly natural in a wet scene and they don’t bother me a bit. It’s great that the main textures are largely grouped.
It frustrates me that I often can’t explain in words why one image snags my heart, while another not so much. For example Heart of Darkness was a true home run for my taste, where as this is more of a single.
There are things I enjoy here. For example the contrast of the vegetation and the way the stalks in the background emanate from the center; it’s well balanced. But, the sensual allure of Heart of Darkness is missing for me in this image. Maybe it’s the lack of gloss, the overall brighter tone, or no deep red frond to act as a musical counterpoint to the song of the image?
Regardless, this is enjoyable; it’s just hard for me not to compare.
I agree with you, on both counts. That was a better image and it’s hard to explain why. There could be many explanations but here is mine.
There is this concept of disinterestedness that Kant came up with. Basically the idea is to look at an image as what it is rather than what it’s about. By what it is I mean its fundamental properties: shapes, colors, arrangement, light, tones, and their positions next to one another. The emotions that properties engender rather than emotions that the narrative engenders. Narrative emotions are like 1) it’s morning and I feel great or 2) the sun rays form a spotlight in the forest and that’s so uplifting, or 3) the placid waters on that lake make me feel serene.
The current image is more representational. Part of that is because it has a greater sense of space because the fg is in front of the bg. All subjects are disclosed fully. If you’ve ever studied OKeefe’s painting it’s that she reduces her flowers to a few basic shapes and their colors that she things captured the essence of the subject. That’s pretty much what I’ve done in the Heart of Darkness.
So in one case I show how the subject looks and in the other my impression of it. I show my impression by showing parts of it and omitting others in a manner that conveys my impression without necessarily looking like the subject itself. In my opinion the more subjective the image is the stronger it is.
However, not everyone sees things this way. I show my images and study reactions from people. Many people like narrative images. I think they understand them better. They are more self evident. It’s like modern art. People reject it because the paintings don’t resemble external reality. Guy Tal argues that this is particularly prevalent in photography because the camera is an instrument designed specifically to record the external world. But now I’m starting to drift ….
Another really great image to add to your Hawaiian catalogue. The first thing I noticed is that this isn’t quite as intimate as your previous images from Hawaii. Not a bad thing at all. Just different. This image also seems to be fully enveloped in light as apposed to many of your previous versions that play with darkness and mood. I love the interplay of the fresh foreground palms with the more understated and maybe even mature looking background palms but it’s really about the vibrant greens and yellows of the foreground plants playing off of the more muted background plants that draws me into this scene, particularly in the smaller thumbnail. This is beautifully composed and the light appears soft and mostly forgiving displaying the many varied shades of green that mother nature dishes out to us. This is a playful scene to me.
What it misses compared to your prior images, and maybe even intentionally, is the moody mysterious, darkness that those images convey. They are more emotive than this image. It doesn’t make this less of an image, just different. I agree with @John_Williams about Heart of Darkness and the emotional Home Run that it is because of the intimate nature of that composition. I also agree with you that this image is more representational, what it is in your own words vs. what it is about, Heart of Darkness. Both are great images but just different. Your description to John is spot on and also a great short read. I appreciate your wisdom and insight into the two images we are talking about. It’s certainly thought provoking and dead on accurate I think. And again, I want to say how much I also love this image.
