What is your opinion of this photograph?

This is a 3 x 3 panorama taken with a drone a few minutes before sunrise in Baja, México in an área where there are some sand Dunes and mangroves. Any suggestions or critiques are welcome.

1 Like

Hi Carlos, welome to NPN!

I certainly think its an very interesting shot. I like the juxtaposition of the dunes with the mangroves and I think the composition suits the scene. From a purely artistic point of view, I find the tracks, person and the tent distracting. I think this scene is all about what the land is telling you. The anthropogenic elements detract, rather than add, to this scene in my opinion.

My main point of critique is with the sky. While the colours are definately beautiful I feel that there is too much vignette on the image. By adding so much vignette you draw mor e attention to the blown highlights in the middle (which are the main point I will make here.

I assume you have tried to recover the highlights quite significantly to help add some colour back into the sky. Perosnally I think they have been recovered too much and look like an UFO isolated in the sky (this was the best analogy I could think of). The hoghlight recovery has also introduced some harsh transitions in the birght sections. I would suggest bringing them up a bit and allow them to transition a bit more gently. All this should help balance on the luminosity in the sky a bit more.

Cheers,
Eugene

2 Likes

Hi Carlos,
I agree mainly with Eugene about the blown out highlights in the sky, but I don’t bother about the person and actually I could not spot a tent (even after looking for it, sorry). I assume the person is you steering the drone, and I think a person adds to the scale. You could try to minimize the footsteps a bit. I also have the impression that the horizon is not straight. If a curved horizon was your intention, that’s of course ok, but I would prefer it straight.
And welcome from me as well, a fellow newbie.
Katharina

2 Likes

[quote=“Eugene_Theron, post:2, topic:14553”]
…y. Perosnally I think they have been recovered too much and look like an UFO isolated in the sky (this was the best analogy I could think of). The hoghlight recovery has also introduced some harsh transitions in the birght sections. I would suggest bringing them up a bit and allow them to transition a bit more gently. All this should help balance on the luminosity in the sky a bit more.Cheers,Eugene
[/quotThanks for your help.

1 Like

Very interesting group of elements, Carlos. I didn’t actually notice the highlights issue until I read about it in the discussion. I don’t think it’s a huge issue as the rest of the scene has a lot of nice details. Compositionally I think centering those water channels might have been an interesting alternative since they’re what’s drawing my eye the most.

1 Like

The reason I asked for critique is because there were just 2 persons among my photographer friends, that mentioned about the sky hilights, and I was more concerned about the tracks in the sand. I thought that the bright part of the scene was not a bad thing. I learned a lot with your words. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments Katharina.

Glad I could help! I don’t see the bright part as a bad thing. It’s just how you/anyone controls the highlights. I used to do a similar thing as it seems intuitive to pull the highlights back as far as you could. But someone pointed out different options to me.

At first glance, I thought the dunes here were very interesting, and very unusual looking. At first I did notice the person, and did not notice the tracks. But now that you have mentioned the tracks, I cannot un-see them. They are a pretty minor distraction, however it looks like they would be relatively easy to clone away, and would do so just to tidy this up a bit.

I’m not sure the blown highlights are as much of an issue, rather it’s the too-strong vignette in the upper left and right corners that bothers me. Dial back on this vignette and it may let the highlights look more balanced too.

With that said, this is a very unusual and interesting image. The dunes and the ox-bowed river channels make for a very compelling image. Your processing on the land itself looks great to me, and with a slight tweak of the vignette in the sky you’ll have a winner.

Very interesting image Carlos! Nice job! Love the perspective from the drone, the dunes are essentially back lit from this direction but because of the aerial perspective you can see the highlights. Nice composition of 3 distinct regions within the frame and pleasing colors as the blues in the river and sky work well with the orange in the sky and warm tones in the sand dunes. The blown highlights in the sky and human presence can either add to an image or distract. You just have to decide which is the case…Agree with Tony above that the water channels are also very interesting and maybe a nice composition or two just using the dunes with the channels and minimal or no sky above would be worth a shot. Very interesting image and perspective, thanks for sharing!

This is really nice! I like how there are three distinct layers in the composition. I also like how the curved lines between the sand dunes echoes the curve in the river. I’m assuming that these curves are formed by floodwaters so it tells the story of the location. You also captured some nice light to top it all off. Nicely done!

Thanks Ed.
I will re-process the image, I agree with your point of view and each and every recommendation you wrote.

Lots of help indeed. I will reprocess this photograph.
About that bright part I think it can actyally help the image, but removing the vignette and also some of the tracks. Thank you.

1 Like

Thanks Brian. Yes it is a beautiful location. Those shapes are part formed by de flooding and part by the wind, :+1:

Thank you Dusty. Actually I am uploading a shot from a higher altitude, once the sun was rising that shows better the channels. Let me know what you think.
Thanks,

I was bothered more by the foot steps than the sky, so I think I will try to clone out the footsteps. Thank you for your comments.

Very cool Carlos! The river channel, dune pattern and long sweeping curve into the distance are all pretty wild…! Just a really unusual and interesting landscape. I think a shot straight down, on top of the dunes would be interesting too. Did you capture any from that perspective? These are more abstract sorts of images but also interesting. I do really like the perspective you chose here, nice job Carlos!

1 Like