I’m not thrilled with the composition (kind of boring), and I’m not sure that there is even a story to this image. I’m wondering if anyone might have some thoughts on the post-processing. First impressions, positives, negatives…stuff like that.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Probably related to the post-processing, but if you see something else that could help.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Two images blended in Photoshop. First image was exposed for the clouds. Second image was from a few minutes later when there was light directly on Eagle Mountain.
I added color dodging in the grasses, and some of the highlights in the clouds. I also added some color dodging in the trees to the right where the majority of the light was coming from. Slight burning around the bottom left, and right corners.
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It’s a beautiful scene, and conveys a peaceful air with the way you composed it. I like the color dodging on the grasses, but it looks a bit spotty to me. The area in the upper middle of the grassy area looks very nice, but the areas around it look a bit muddy. The yellows on the outcrop seem a bit oversaturated to my eyes. I sometimes desaturate yellows in this kind of light because they don’t feel real.
I like the shape of that mountain, it looks really beautiful! I agree with you on the composition, there is not much that really draws you to that mountain now, which is the main subject to me. Maybe there is something around that could be a nice foreground. Some rocks would go nice with the mountain, or some lines in the vegetation. Due to the light the mountain grabs your attention, but too much? I think the highlights on the mountain could be a bit darker.
The sky takes a lot of space. It’s a nice colorful one, but cropping almost a third from the top still makes it shine. The subtle dodging adds some depth to the scene and looks nice!
The characteristic mountain surely shows potential!
I normally don’t process images where I’m in doubt afterwards, they don’t motivate me to use time on them.
Thanks for the feedback! I do think the highlights look a bit…off. I think I should let an image sit for a few days, and then look at it again.
I’m sure there is a better composition to be found at this location, but I haven’t spent enough time looking. I’m trying to fix that part too…I need to get out more.
I think the reason I committed to working through this image is because I haven’t done it in a very long time. I knew it wasn’t an award winner, but I also wanted to see what I could come up with. But I think you’re right…not much here to pull the viewer in.
I find it easier to do an edit. I converted it to B&W and edited it. I find this helps me with cropping, contrast, etc. I use B&W to judge composition because I only see the texture, tones, and contrast. I find color distracts from choosing the stronger composition. To me, color is the icing on the cake, and B&W is the cake. If I don’t like an image in B&W, I usually don’t like the color version either. IMO, B&W is the structure of the image, and color is the accent. But, that’s just me.
Then I converted back to color and edited again. I selected white balance on one of the small rocks in the shadow. I brought down the exposure and the saturation.
For the composition, it looks like the camera was pointed up a bit. For me, I have found I don’t care for the way it affects my images.
Hey Bradley,
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll have to give the B&W conversion a try, and see it that helps me or not.
I’m never exactly sure what to do about white balance. I tried several different color correction starting points, and they all seemed off to me. I probably did push the saturation too far on this image, so I’ll have to watch for that.
Now that I have a camera with an EVF, I chose raw + jpg, so I can set it for B&W. This allows me to compose in B&W in camera. If you have live view or an EVF, you should be able to do that as well. Color is awesome, but it can fool the minds eye away from the structure of the image.
I recently missed the best color of a sunset. I like it when there’s orange and purple/pink in the sky, and this only lasts a few minutes if it happens at all. I captured the color I wanted, but I missed the composition. I had trouble putting my finger on why I didn’t quite like the image until I converted to B&W. It was a weak composition. I checked a different comp a few minutes later, and it was much stronger in B&W than the other one, but I missed the pink in the sky. It was gone by the time I shot it. I missed the best color because I was composing with color and not structure, lines, balance, etc.
Quite the sky and interesting cliff Ryan, I can see why you were lured to shoot this.
Processing wise, this is a really hard scene to deal with and one of the reasons I don’t care for pink skies myself anymore. There is quite the pink cast on the foreground that I removed, I darkened the sky and brought out some texture in the clouds. I also toned down the cliff face considerably. It’s still not at a place I like, but I wanted to demonstrate a few things anyways.
Now, if I can be honest with you, this is not your strongest work. I feel like your compositions are typically much better than this and it feels like you shot this only because the sky was blowing up. I’ve done this myself many times over the years. You get so excited that you just find something, anything out of desperation . I’ve learned that if I don’t have a comp that I like and the sky is going off, I just sit back and enjoy the show. I like the elements here with the cliff reflecting in the foreground, but for me it just doesn’t work, and obviously you feel this way too.
Hey David,
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I’ve reworked this photography multiple times since I uploaded it, and I’m not sure it’s worth it. Sure, I’m trying to build something, but it isn’t an image I’d ever show as a portfolio piece. It’s a pretty scene, and that’s about it.
I think I was so excited to finally get out on a shoot that I was seeing more than was actually there. I’ve only been to this area a few times, and I haven’t put in the effort to find a real composition. So I guess I’ve actually learned more from that than anything.
I don’t regret getting up early, and putting in the effort to take a shot, but I do regret not holding myself to a higher standard when posting an image for critique…kind of a waste of everyones time.
But, I will take a look at your adjustments, and maybe I can pick up something good from that too.
I don’t think it was a waste of time at all, as long as you took away some new learning and it may have opened your eyes to spending more time in the field finding a composition. I think it could be a great learning experience for not just you but others that may come across this! Plus the potential learning on the post processing side, which is what you were really after anyways, I wouldn’t have spent the time on the processing if I didn’t think you could get something from it!
. I’ve learned that if I don’t have a comp that I like and the sky is going off, I just sit back and enjoy the show. I like the elements here with the cliff reflecting in the foreground, but for me it just doesn’t work, and obviously you feel this way too.