Critique Style Requested: Initial Reaction
Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.
Questions to guide your feedback
I’m looking for initial thoughts about this image. I’d especially appreciate viewpoints about the feeling it engenders, and suggestions for improvement.
Other Information
Please leave your feedback before viewing the blurred information below, once you have replied, click to reveal the text and see if your assessment aligns with the photographer. Remember, this if for their benefit to learn what your unbiased reaction is.
Image Description
This is the base of Treasure Falls, a 100-plus-foot waterfall near Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The overall height and heavy timber mean that a full-length shot is virtually impossible. So we hiked up to the main base of the waterfall. I really like this angle and the ‘weight’ of the rocks all around. This close, I was able to keep tourists and vegetation out of the frame, but had to be careful that my lens didn’t get misted. It’s also my favorite of the photos I took of the falls.
Technical Details
f 8, 1/30, with CPL, 24 mm (24-70mm zoom), texture effect from On1 Effects, selective burn to reduce highlights
Specific Feedback
I like it as a fine art image, and did some of my edits and experimentation with that in mind. I like the almost-monochrome result, but was not as happy with a straight black-and-white version. I can see this as a large-format image in a large space, perhaps framed to give the feeling of a window view.
In a likely sign of my immaturity as a photographer, I find it hard to react to the emotional side until after I’ve reacted to the technical side. With that disclaimer, I’ll start there.
My first reaction is for balance at the bottom; I wish there was a bit more foreground below the pool. That’s compounded by the softness of the llc. The pool seems an important part of the image, IMO, and I think it my better fit if it wasn’t quite so close to the edge. That rock in the lrc is beautiful in a harsh way; I wish there was more of that in the bottom of the image.
On to the emotional. I love the contrast of rock and water. There’s no vegetation, (leaves, logs, debris, etc.) just the hard contrast of water and earth. That gives the image a starkness that I appreciate.
I think @John_Williams has some very good observations. You have a very interesting subject but for me, it doesn’t translate to a very interesting image. For me, art is craft is art, and I’m not being grabbed by a strong element of either here. I want to see more at the base and the top. I understand that may not have been possible due to less attractive elements there, but it’s still a factor that as a viewer I want to see. The falls feels constrained in the horizontal format. The SS also feels faster than what I want for an artistic view of a waterfall – and too slow for a technical view. I don’t see a texture, and have trouble visualizing what one would accomplish here.
I don’t mean to sound too critical – a longer SS would help with artistry. A polarizer usually isn’t enough for daytime light. You could probably go to a smaller aperture, depending on the sensor size. But if you have a M4T you may be close to the diffraction limit. Camera info helps with critique in situations like this.
@John_Williams and @Diane_Miller, thank you for your comments. I apologize for the slow response but was away from NPN except for a couple of quick views this week. I appreciate what both of you pointed out because it lets me know I got waaaaay too invested in the image and forgot critical thinking. I too wish I’d done a better job with that triangular rock in the LRC. It was amazing. And thank you for mentioning the softness in the LL. Regarding the water and shutter speed, I actually struggle to love long shutter speeds on water ; my own failing, because I know that is often what’s looked for artistically. On the plus side, I plan to talk my husband into a return visit to try again since we weren’t able to do the complete circle of the trail. There is a section of the trail that a younger couple had just come down from as we were planning to go up; they strongly discouraged it due to poor conditions, matching the FS warning signs that had been put up. However, that side of the trail loop has the ‘iconic’ view of the falls, showing about 3/4 of the waterfall plus a section of the cascading creek. I want to try for that in the future, too.
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I think different falls are usually best with different SSs, as the speed and general appearance of the falling water can be subtly different. I shoot a range and decide later. And also bracket composition.
Hope to see your next version soon!!
