The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
The process of taking images and then really assessing them when you get back home is interesting to me. I often am left with the feeling that I could have done more, I just couldn’t see it or realize it in the moment. I guess that’s part of the growth process, learning what to try next time.
For this scene, what I really needed was a longer lens. This is a pretty significant crop of the full image. The full image was taken with the lens fully zoomed at 55mm. To be fair I was focused on the big view at the time, which I really like, but in retrospect I would love to be back there with a longer lens picking off bits and pieces.
Specific Feedback
I suppose this may be a bit busy for minimalism? The flow is in a lot of different directions. Does it all come together or is it just too busy?
Technical Details
FUJIFILM X-T30
FUJIFILM XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS at 55 mm (83 mm equivalent)
1/950 sec. at f/10 and ISO 160
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
John, so cool (literally) the wind patterns! And great questions you asked about the image. I think your instinct to recompose after the fact is right on. It is a bit ‘busy’ for me, especially in the context of minimalism. One comp that jumped out at me and that I now can’t ‘unsee’ is this:
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I’m guessing you saw this one too! I also warmed the snow a bit - but not all the way, as I looked at it as a B&W too, and the blue was truly neutralized then. IMHO, unless the intention is truly for B&W, I like a bit of a blue cast in snowscapes. It adds to the cool feeling of it, obviously, and cool (or frigid) is often the intent of such images. So, again, that would be adjusted depending on how much of that is part of your story here.
Nicely done, & I think there’s nothing wrong with changing the comp after the fact, when it presents itself to you post capture!
I love this, John. It doesn’t seem busy to me in the larger context, but in the context of the Weekly Challenge topic, Connie’s crop works nicely. I also find myself thinking about the recent webinar here on zooming in to parts of the scene. Temporarily forgetting the name, but the speaker talked about small scenes within much larger ones and demonstrated the beauty of the approach.
In this case, I think you have 3-4 good compositions:
The one presented
The one Connie identified
A perfectly square version of Connie’s subject
A more vertical crop of the trees on the right
I did a couple of quickie screenshot crops to show what I’m seeing (bu the first isn’t quite square).
Anyway, you get the idea, and you can play with more precise options.
I increasingly find that I use my 24-105 lens most of the time, and generally have it zoomed close to 100. I’m often reluctant to pull out the 100-400mm, but when I do, I’m generally glad I did.
Side note, is this White River Canyon on Mt. Hood? Or somewhere in Washington?
ML
I’m confused. You indicate using a 55-200mm zoom lens, and you were “fully zoomed at 55mm”. Did you mean you were using it at the wide end of the focal range? One of the things that is nice, and annoying, about digital photography is the incredibly low overhead of making way to many photographs. The possibility of running out of card space is nearly nil. Take as many photos as you want, if what you capture is not to your liking, delete it and continue. So why did you not take more images with the tighter lens angle of view?
Aside from that, I love the photo as you presented it. The ripples in the snow, which I assume were caused by wind, are just wonderful and help lead the eye all over the frame with fascination. The trees, all of them, work as great visual anchors. While tighter compositions would be nice in and of themselves, this wider view is no slouch.
John, the mix of ripples and shadows is excellent, with the rare trees adding a touch of spice. There is clearly a wealth of compositions within this frame. I like how the long shadows from trees not in the frame almost the bottom left corner, that adds an extra component to the “story”.
Thank you @Connie_McClaran and @Marylynne_Diggs. One of my favorite things about NPN is fellow enthusiasts being able to think outside the box that I put myself in. My brain got stuck on the fact that I had already cropped the original image significantly, so I didn’t look for crops within the crop. I love all of them, in fact choosing a favorite would be challenging.
This was taken from Mazama Ridge at Mt. Rainier.
Thanks for catching that @Youssef_Ismail. When posting I copy the camera info out of a word file that lists the camera/lens combos that I have collected images from, and I accidently copied the wrong one. Although I owned that longer zoom, I didn’t take it with me on that backpacking trip; that was a mistake. I’m editing the original post to show the correct lens.
John: What a beautiful scene superbly captured and rendered. I like this wide view and like the others see all kinds of potential comps and extractions. I would liken this to shooting dunes where one can isolate swirls and contours. I’ve often used my oversights or mistakes at a certain site as an excuse to go back. (I just did this in Oregon) I hope you do get to revisit this place but I would certainly be very happy with this. >=))>
I like how the overall image is balanced with the rolling snowy hills and the few small trees spread around in a minimalist sort of way. And I think this photograph is thoughtfully composed without any unnecssary or distracting elements, which is often difficult to do with a fairly wide scene.
John, the swirling lines and textures here are just mesmerizing. The shadows add a lot of interest, and the tiny trees provide some perspective.
Exceptional!
Hi John, there are plenty of critiques here so I just wanted to add that Sarah Marino and Ron Coscorrosa have a great e-book about finding small scenes in the wider landscape, called “Beyond the Grand Landscape”. Nice shot!
I have a couple dates blocked off; hopefully all the stars align! I’m taking the longer lens this time for sure.
Fair question, since I don’t get to print large as often as I wish. With that said though, I dearly love to have the option and some of these crops are getting so small that they would only look good as postage stamps. I haven’t had a chance to use some of the newer software for enlarging, but that might make these small crops less of an issue?
I haven’t had a chance to use some of the newer software for enlarging, but that might make these small crops less of an issue?