Tree of Life

Image Critiques
1

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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

Just curious what you initial response is to this image.
Also, do you know what it is?

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

My wife and I did a cruise in Baja California in early February to see “The Great Whale Migrations” and this image was captured on that cruise. It was one of the most amazing trips we’ve ever had. The Sea of Cortez is full of life both avian and sea mammals to a degree that completely blew us away. We saw 4 different species of whales, thousands of dolphins, more Blue Footed Booby’s than we could count, more osprey than we could count and countless California pelicans in breeding plumage among others. Oh, and the sunrises and sunsets are just incredible.
This is actually a partial image of a 1 year old humpback whale that was alone and followed our ship until the captain stopped. It was then that the young whale decided to play with the ship for two hours. It would swim up and down one side of the ship and then dive under and come up on the other side of the ship interacting with the passengers. It slowly and methodically twisted and turned, bobbed and weaved, tail slapping and fin slapping the water having a great time. WHen it was time to say goodbye, the whale slowly went west and about 200 feet from the ship did a barrel role and then a tail slap as if to say goodbye to everyone.
The captain then got us underway again and about 15 minutes later over the loudspeaker of the ship, he told all the passengers that the whale was following the ship and that he was going to shut it down again. Once again, the whale pulled up along side the ship and proceeded to play with the passengers, this time for about 30 minutes. It was during this time that the captain asked all crew members to stop what they were doing to come outside to witness this incredible interaction. At the end of the cruise he told everyone that in all the years he’s been doing this, he’d never seen an interaction like that before with a lone baby whale for so long. None of the crew had ever seen anything like either. Many passengers were in tears when the whale finally left for the second time and once again did a tail and a fluke slap on the water. I totally believe that whale was communicating with us in some way. It’s something that we will never, ever forget.
This is an abstract image of that encounter. The bright portion is a part of the fluke while the rest of the image is the whales body underwater.

Technical Details

Z9, 180-600mm lens @ 180mm, ISO 1000, 1/3200, f/7.1, hand held from ship.

Specific Feedback

Does the framing work for you?
Should I crop out the bubbles in the ULC?
Colors?

Initial reaction critiques
2

Not a clue what it is, David. I assumed it was just random shadows created by the ripples in the water, but your question implies something else. I like this a lot. The resemblance to a tree of the darker tones is uncanny and that combined with the double meaning of it being water, the birthplace of life, brings it an additional meaning. This is one where the title is integral to the art in my opinion.

Now to go look at the hidden message.

OK. Completely missed the target, but what an experience. As for the image, I wouldn’t change anything.

3

David, this looks like a view from underwater, although the fine mix of blue tones doesn’t feel like sunlight…maybe in a cave? The expanding, branching ripple structure makes this nicely dynamic and the colors make it very mysterious. The flecks of foam in the upper left sell me that you’re looking down at the water surface and that there’s some “frothing” going on somewhere outside the frame.

WOW, what a unique experience!!!

4

I have no clue what it is in reality, but I think this is a wonderful abstract. It does look like the reflection of a tree in rippling water to me. I think the color and contrast a re perfect. No nits.
-P

5

I can definitely see the tree. I’m thinking its the reflection of the sky and ?? in water. Nicely seen.

Edit after reading description - Well, I would never have guessed. What an experience!!

6

David, very cool image, my first impression was it looks like a liquid tree. The variations in the color and the patterns in the water are great. I opened up the larger image and the detail is great. I could then see better the bubbles in the ULC and my first impression was that I didn’t like seeing them because they lessened the abstraction, butt I could also see how that would be the “hint” as to what the reality is. Excellent work!