I need a critique of this Photo

[Darin Boville]

I don't know what the color one is trying to be...on the black and white version I'm drawn not so much to the river or ledge but to the light coming through the trees. The rest distracts and weakens this feeling, so here would be my variation on your image (an extreme crop).

[Policar]

Yeah, that b&w crop is the strongest of all, by far.

[Vaughn]

One thing to consider are those small pure black areas -- if there is no detail there in there, then those areas will become quite large areas of no info when enlarged. Still might work -- look at the work of Brett Weston and his use of black space.

But changing the scale of an image changes that image -- sometimes for the better, sometimes not.

For the record, I like the square, too.

Vaughn

PS -- for my tastes, the original image has far too much contrast -- makes the existing light look unnatural and fights with the subject.

[eddie]

i like policar's version of the color image the best of the color ones.

the B&W is better overall .

[minesix66]

Thanks guys,

When I took the picture I felt the right ledge would have led the persons eye to the river because of the color of the leaves.

Looking at other pictures I felt standard practice is to have the river run off of the corner of the frame and that would be better than running through the center. I can see how the square crops look better, to me it emphasis the river.

Is it better to be more in the center of the rivers (waterfalls) when taking pictures? I read through the thread and alot of people have commented about the angle that I took or is it because the sides are too dark like discussed.

I understand now in a new point of view about how it is the dark sides can through off the persons view.

I also like Policecars version but when I tried to dodge my blacks didn't get bright like how his did, they turned more of a grey-reddish. In photoshop I used a fill layer with 50% grey for my dodging and buring. Should I have used the dodge tool itself?
Me friend mentioned to me that I could have used a fill flash and still kept the shutter open. This would have opened up the darks and it would have balanced it out more. Did anyone ever try this?

Is it better to be more in the center of the rivers (waterfalls) when taking pictures? I read through the thread and alot of people have commented about the angle that I took or is it because the sides are too dark like discussed.

[Bill_1856]

I see nothing wrong with it, except that it's going to be a bitch to print.
There's nothing you can do with it, no way you can crop it which will turn it into a "Great" image, so hang it over your bed intact as an excellent reminder of that day you were enjoying yourself when you took it. It's the pleasure that matters.

[Brian Ellis]

Just a reminder to you that while several people have said one version or another is "the best" they've neglected to mention that they're expressing an opinion based on their own personal tastes. Whatever version you like is what's important and in that respect nobody else's opinion is any better than your own. It's your photograph, you're the one who will hang it or put it in a box or whatever. And just to show how opinions can differ, I don't care at all for the version that several people said was "the best." So pick whichever one you like and go with it (or don't as you see fit) and try not to be overly influenced by what someone else tells you is "the best."

[Jack Dahlgren]

Thanks guys,

When I took the picture I felt the right ledge would have led the persons eye to the river because of the color of the leaves.

Looking at other pictures I felt standard practice is to have the river run off of the corner of the frame and that would be better than running through the center. I can see how the square crops look better, to me it emphasis the river.

Is it better to be more in the center of the rivers (waterfalls) when taking pictures? I read through the thread and alot of people have commented about the angle that I took or is it because the sides are too dark like discussed.

I understand now in a new point of view about how it is the dark sides can through off the persons view.

Is it better to be more in the center of the rivers (waterfalls) when taking pictures? I read through the thread and alot of people have commented about the angle that I took or is it because the sides are too dark like discussed.

I don't think that you should be concerned about "standard practice". Standard practice can sometimes be good, but it can also be boring, or it might not fit the particulars of your subject or your tastes.

I think that the main reason for suggesting different cropping is due to the featureless blacks, so you are seeing them getting chopped off in most of the versions here. Is that because the point of view is wrong, or because there is no visual interest in those areas. I think the latter. And I think if you had better light in the foreground you could include more of it. I would argue against fill flash though. It tends to look artificial.

But as Bill and Brian have said, it is your vision, your taste and your money. Do what brings you the best results.

[minesix66]

I see nothing wrong with it, except that it's going to be a bitch to print.
There's nothing you can do with it, no way you can crop it which will turn it into a "Great" image, so hang it over your bed intact as an excellent reminder of that day you were enjoying yourself when you took it. It's the pleasure that matters.

Yes, you were right. I had it printed at CostCo at 20x16 (the staff there are really into making a good print) and it did print out dark like you guys mentioned. I do calibrate my monitor and use the icc profiles. They printed on a luster paper with an Epson 7880.

I will go to this area again, I just didn't want to drop 250.00 on a cibachrome print. I would rather spend the money on a better subject.

I do appreciate everyone's opinions.

[venchka]

Have you considered a drum scan?