The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I found this intrusive dike while exploring in Lee Vining Canyon in the Sierra. The darker rocks imbedded in the light-toned rock are known as xenoliths. These rocks are much older than the light-toned melt into which they had become trapped. As they heated somewhat, they became stretched and distorted by the extreme heat and pressure.
I thought it might make a nice abstract, so I gave it a shot.
-P
Specific Feedback
Any comments regarding color, tonality, or composition are always welcome.
Technical Details
Chamonix 4x5
Schneider 210 mm
f-32 @ 1/8 s
Astia 100F ISO 100
1800 dpi scan
Processed in Photo Shop
Very nice abstract. I read the description, and I still canât quite see this as anything other than an aerial image of 50-100 acres! I like it as presented, but I couldnât resist the temptation to download, crop it square and rotate it to see how it changes. Itâs one of those images that looks really different when rotated, and I imagine flipping or doing both without cropping could yield even more discoveries.
In the square and rotate options, this was my favorite. There is somethng about the straight line in the vessel shape in the middle that has a lot of visual weight when itâs a cup, opening at the top. When itâs âfacing downâ I see more of the rest of the image. Itâs quite possible the opposite will be true for others. Iâm looking forward to seeing othersâ feedback.
A very impressive abstract here, Preston. I really like this kind of thing and find Iâm looking at stuff like this all the time. The colors. here are very different. Some of them muted grey tones are really fascinating. Nice find.
I just realized this is a 4 x 5. Thatâs a really nice size. I have an old speed graphic, which is 2 1/4 3 1/4 and has a role film back. Well, I have some cassettes for it but rarely use them because the advantage of the role film back. But unfortunately, itâs a need of repair and I can only use it if I focus on the ground glass, itâs really hard to get the focusing mechanism aligned properly.
Itâs intriguing, Preston. It can be hard to find a good composition when photographing rocks but you did it.
My only reservation is that the oranges found here and there in the shot arenât very appealing. You might consider desaturating those or converting the shot to black and white.
Well done, Preston! I love rocks, geology, and abstracts of rocks are such fun. You did a great job with this section you chose. While I see what @Don_Peters is saying about the orange bits, Iâm afraid if you desaturate those you will lose the orangish hues in the other areas of the rock, which would be sad. Iâm okay with those, although it could make for a great black and white as well and that takes care of those spotsâŚ
Hi Preston,
This is a very intriguing image full of varying shapes and textures. I particularly like the varying shades of blue interspersed with those white tones as it makes for a wonderful color combination. I also like @Marylynne_Diggs rework with the square crop and rotation as I feel it makes an already wonderful intimate scene even better.Beautifully done and great eye to spot and isolate this.
@Marylynne_Diggs is on to something. Her rework definitely improves the composition. Iâm not sure why but it feels right somehow. I agree with the comments about the orange brown and once again am not sure why that color âis not appealingâ. I thought a b&w version of Marylynneâs looked better as well.
Sorry for being late to the game. It is a cool abstract but at the same time you can see how the rocks appeared to flow when they were in their melted state. Very cool.
While I appreciate the feedback other members give, especially when an edit to the posted photo is reposted in the same thread - as a picture is worth a thousand words of explanation - I think if the edit takes the creative license too far to the point of producing something so different from the original posterâs intent it feels to me that the editor has failed to respect the original posterâs work.
Iâm sure it was not Marylynneâs intent to suggest Prestonâs photo needed her edits and her repost was done with the best of intentions.
For myself I think I will be more conscientious before offering an edit to someoneâs photo in the future.
Thanks, Youseff, for tactfully pointing out my excess of exuberance . I do have a tendency to recrop abstracts regardless of the photographerâs request for feedback. Iâll temper that tendency.
I very much appreciate the geology lesson with regard to the different rock layers. I think that gives more meaning to this image for the photographer.and the viewer so thanks for that, Preston.
Because I am late on this one, I get the benefit of what others have already said. This image has tags for Landscape, Intimate, and Abstract although you mentioned this as being an abstract in your write up. So Iâm going to critique it more as an abstract than as a landscape or intimate scene although it clearly covers all three tags equally.
I very much like the flow and the texture in this image but itâs the contrast that really pokes me in the eye. I love the light and dark tones jogging through the scene in an orderly and beautifully spaced way. The pinkish orange coloration is not something you see very often which adds to the abstract nature of this image. I really like the rusty splotches adding a bit of life and vibrance to the image. Itâs very quirky with lines darting all about. At first glance youâre not really sure what it is. Perfect for an abstract.
As far as the composition, I think you just about nailed this one with the possible exception of the URC. I keep seeing the URC as falling away from the rest of the formation and lacking the striations of the rest of the scene. There is not much you could do about that except to crop in or compose a little bit tighter. I will say that I like what @Marylynne_Diggs did to the crop on this image as it feels like itâs more on a flat plane and you have that triangular section of rock in the middle of the scene with fissures all around creating beautiful balance. and lines Having said that, I think your original is a much more intentional, intimate landscape scene, very well composed with the one exception I noted which nobody else has mentioned so it very well could be just me. Thatâs the beauty of critique section. Everyone sees it the way they see it, and there is no right or wrong. By the way, what a terrific find in Lee Vining. Thanks for sharing.
. I do have a tendency to recrop abstracts regardless of the photographerâs request for feedback. Iâll temper that tendency.
Thatâs the beauty of critique section. Everyone sees it the way they see it, and there is no right or wrong. By the way, what a terrific find in Lee Vining. Thanks for sharing.