1:1 CROP
5:7 CROP
I remember reviewing this image immediately after taking it and having such high hopes. The image I was looking at on my LCD display was essentially the 5x7 version posted here (it was actually 2x3, of course). I loved the long “edge of chaos” line that ran from top to bottom between the high key left and detailed right side of the frame and the way the upper half of the frame was literally mirrored by the reflections in the lower half. And yet after working on the image in post, it just didn’t feel right. I tried playing with the colour and, I felt, desaturating did improve it but for reasons I couldn’t quite nail down, it just wasn’t working. I was about to file it as a miss when I realized that what I loved about the picture I was looking at, rather than one I’d hoped for, was the detailed shoreline of rocks and cedar. For me, it really conveyed a sense of place. The other aspect of the image that continued to draw my eye was the negative space and high key effect produced by the early morning light hitting the dense mist. And then I understood why the image wasn’t working for me – the reflection, much as I loved the idea of it, was actually getting in the way, distracting from rather than contributing to the whole. So, a reminder to me of the need to be ruthless in composing the picture. I had got it right in camera except that instead of cropping to 5:7, it needed to be cropped right down to 1:1. So, I tried it and, for me at least, it transformed the picture. The vague annoyance and disappointment I’d been feeling with the 5:7 fell away.
Specific Feedback Requested
I’d really appreciate feedback on this. The 5:7 has a quality of abstraction that I like very much but I also suspect that it doesn’t quite work because the reflection lacks enough detail to hold its own with the upper portion of the picture and kind of gets in the way. The 1:1 is a more conventional composition but, to me anyway, feels more satisfying. As I say, I’d love to get your feedback with respect to both images regarding the emotional impact, composition, and any technical suggestions that might improve the whole.
Is this a composite: No
I really like the 1:1 crop. You nailed it with your line of reasoning about the shoreline. I played with the B&W conversion and decided that you do need the colors in this image. In the B&W the shoreline is lost on the leaves.
Thanks for sharing this image but especially your struggles with refining your vision after the fact. It’s very edifying to read that process. I can think of a few images that could take another pass with that mindset: finding what I truly enjoy about the image because it may not be the same as what you have in mind in the field.
I, too, prefer the 1:1 crop. The reflection is really interesting - I can see some of the underwater rocks through it, which always catches my interest. I think the reason the 1:1 works better for me is the overall balance of the “parts” of the frame. The 1:1, even though 1:1 is ostensibly more static or stable than a more elongate frame, is actually more “active” here because of the different shapes of the parts. (see pic - hope you don’t mind the boxes - I’m trying to learn more of the graphic design parts of PS, so I’m practicing 
)
On an emotional level, it has a feeling of mystery because of the white space where we can’t see the horizon. It’s the great unknown, maybe a fairy land beyond the solid earth. I find it very beautiful and appealing.
I much prefer the 1:1 crop. It has a much balance than the portrait version. There is definitely a sense of the unknown, a mystery about what lies beyond both out of the left side of the frame as well as into the background of the water because of the high key effect. This is another image where the horizon blends seamlessly into the background. There could be anything beyond the horizon. I can envision a waterfall into an abyss, or a fairyland with lush green hills on the horizon, or numerous other imaginative depictions.
I prefer the 1:1 ratio as well. A big part of the reason is due to all that darkness in the lower right area. I happened to move the mouse over your image by accident and liked what I saw. It lowered the contrast in the image. I would experiment with raising the darker area and lowering the brighter area. But perhaps to you it was this way in reality and you wish to preserve what you saw. Although the eye compensates for light and you really don’t see things ‘as they really are’.
What a beautiful image Kerry! I think that the comp works really well even though the left half is essentially blank. In regards to the crops, I will say that I prefer the 1:1 more even though the 5:7 is rather nice too.
@Adhika_Lie - Thanks, Adhika, I’m glad to hear my story is resonant with your own aspirations. I also thought of going to B&W but, as with you, I came to the same conclusion - that monochrome couldn’t really capture the depth of detail that is so important for this image.
@Bonnie_Lampley - Wow. Bonnie your detailed graphic analysis is really insightful. Clearly, as you demonstrated, there is more “creative tension” in the square image over the 5:7, even though one might have imagined the reverse. I realize the square as you’ve divided it doesn’t isn’t quite duplicate the golden rectangle/Fibonacci series, but it does seems to have some resonance with it. In fact if the red line that defines the narrower left side were moved to the further extremes of where the white areas end further to the right, it would be pretty damn close. And yes, it was my hope that the white space would serve as a counterpoint not just visually but emotionally as well.
@David_Haynes - Thanks so much, David. Between your comments and Bonnie’s, I feel I have succeeded according to my intention in presenting a sense of the creative void.
@Igor_Doncov - Thanks for taking the time to share your impressions. I really did want to make something of the negative space - balance but also tension - the tension that comes with uncertainty, which is my notion of the creative void.
@Tom_Nevesely - I appreciate your taking the time to look and comment.
