Your Best Photograph from the Previous Month - Critique and Discussion Encouraged

[jnantz]

hi stephen

really enjoy your image. it shows magical quality of the american west but i am having
trouble with the mid tones ( maybe it is my computer? i don't know )
it looks like a dark band from just below the horizon line across to the left along the rocks
maybe it is a cloud shadow ? i'm drawn to the brighter tones - the clouds ( look fine by me not fake )
the river, the sun on the stone and how the sun and river drag me to the open vista..
but ...
the lower part of the rocks, while there is some information there ...
i get lost trying to see too much get bogged down in the details.
im not so much of a details kind of person hints at the details on the rocks
are fine by me ( i think the artsy word is they are implied )
im kind of a mies van der rohe kind of person
( less is more ) i tend to get overwhelmed by too many details ..
... sorry to ask this
aside from a pretty photograph ( which it is ) what is your intent? did you have design sort of thing in mind?
i find it hard to concentrate on other aspects of the photograph when there is a lot of detail and "stuff" ...

if you don't get there often, i hope you made more exposures, looks like a really nice spot to visit !

[Corran]

Pat, Steve, thanks for your thoughts earlier. I think both of you pointed out some possible improvements to be made via burning and that's certainly something I should consider.

I was having trouble with this print the other night because I was burning in a few things and my condenser head was heating up and expanding the film. I need to remember to switch back to the cold head for larger prints requiring longer exposures.

Gudmundur - I like the second image looking at it larger now on my computer. What I see is lines stacked one on top of each other of dark and light tones. I still yearn for a bit of foreground or "grounding" to help reckon the large expanse. I think that's what I feel like on most wide-open compositions like that. The first image I was initially confused by. Randy reads a political statement, which I always find interesting. I did not immediately see it as such. Presented in context with the other image, the motif of horizontal lines could be inferred, though it is not as distinct and varied in tones as the mountain and clouds. It's a bit flat to me, both in terms of 3D space and tonal variety. Perhaps in a larger context I could get behind Randy's read but in a vacuum I don't see it like that personally.

[esearing]

Picking just one image is hard, and I have so many yet to print from recent outings.. This one is an image I saw once, and it bugged me that I did not take it the first time. I returned a couple of weeks later and captured it. The sun was coming over the mountain and starting to filter through the trees on the right but the clouds were moving too so my light was changing and creating hot spots so timing was key. it was in a shaded forest so was a long exposure and I think the light shifted the last second or two. In the darkroom it prints fairly easy with a little burning on the left and top. I am torn whether I want to tone this one or not. The more I show my "brown" images to folks the more feedback I get that non-photographers prefer the classic grey tone. This one prints a little cold on bergger paper in Ansco 130.

[scheinfluger_77]

...it looks like a dark band from just below the horizon line across to the left along the rocks
maybe it is a cloud shadow ?...

Hi John,
Unless I miss my guess that is probably the terminator from the setting sun. The effect is more pronounced in dryer, dustier climates. I saw this sort of thing all the time before moving to Missouri.

[scheinfluger_77]

Eric,
You are attempting something here that I always have trouble with, an interesting pattern surrounded by a riot of nature. I am beginning to think that extreme selective focus is one way of isolating the prime subject (in this case the knot of roots in the lower foreground). I like what you are trying to do here and suggest you continue your efforts by actively pursuing ways—in camera and/or in darkroom—to emphasize that separation.

As for print color my personal preference is toward warmer tones, but that is just me.

[esearing]

Eric,
You are attempting something here that I always have trouble with, an interesting pattern surrounded by a riot of nature.
As for print color my personal preference is toward warmer tones, but that is just me.

Thanks Steve - Scenics here in the North Georgia mountains are plagued with unwanted elements when compared to grand vistas out west. We have to pass on so many potential opportunities where the background gets in the way even with selective focus or use of wide angle up close. I have accepted the natural clutter but I can see where it does not conform to the ideal images most of us would prefer to shoot. Maybe it will come in vogue one day.

[Steven Ruttenberg]

hi stephen

really enjoy your image. it shows magical quality of the american west but i am having
trouble with the mid tones ( maybe it is my computer? i don't know )
it looks like a dark band from just below the horizon line across to the left along the rocks
maybe it is a cloud shadow ? i'm drawn to the brighter tones - the clouds ( look fine by me not fake )
the river, the sun on the stone and how the sun and river drag me to the open vista..
but ...
the lower part of the rocks, while there is some information there ...
i get lost trying to see too much get bogged down in the details.
im not so much of a details kind of person hints at the details on the rocks
are fine by me ( i think the artsy word is they are implied )
im kind of a mies van der rohe kind of person
( less is more ) i tend to get overwhelmed by too many details ..
... sorry to ask this
aside from a pretty photograph ( which it is ) what is your intent? did you have design sort of thing in mind?
i find it hard to concentrate on other aspects of the photograph when there is a lot of detail and "stuff" ...

if you don't get there often, i hope you made more exposures, looks like a really nice spot to visit !

That is shadow from the mountains/clouds and sun setting. It was very windy and dust up there. I accentuated the shadow trails and the lighter bands as well. My goal was to draw you into the image from the upper right to the lower left and then stair step you down to the bottom of the Canyon where it fades to almost black, but not quite. I was trying to imitate how the Canyon really is as the sun sets. It is really bright at the top and then fades into darkness at the bottom. Hopefully, I have achieved my goal. However, I have gotten a lot of discussion on this image both from the board, other sites and from people who have seen it in person. I can't wait to print this one large, like in the 32x40 range.

I am finding that large format images 4x5 so far, just do not have justice done to them when printed small. 16x20 is okay, but there is so much detail and things to look at, that small doesn't work. The more I like at a 4x5 image or larger that is done well, I seem to always discover something new I did not notice before. Hopefully, my image approaches that.

Thanks for all the comments. I will be going back this winter I hope and then next summer/fall as well.

[Steven Ruttenberg]

Picking just one image is hard, and I have so many yet to print from recent outings.. This one is an image I saw once, and it bugged me that I did not take it the first time. I returned a couple of weeks later and captured it. The sun was coming over the mountain and starting to filter through the trees on the right but the clouds were moving too so my light was changing and creating hot spots so timing was key. it was in a shaded forest so was a long exposure and I think the light shifted the last second or two. In the darkroom it prints fairly easy with a little burning on the left and top. I am torn whether I want to tone this one or not. The more I show my "brown" images to folks the more feedback I get that non-photographers prefer the classic grey tone. This one prints a little cold on bergger paper in Ansco 130.

I like this one. Lot's of detail. The only thing I find is for me it is a little flat in the middle and a bit busy. Maybe a crop from the top about half way down and then from the left just to the edge of the root pile. This would accentuate the roots/lower part of tree which is where I seem to focus on as I look at the image.

[Corran]

Eric, I know I've told you this in person but again, I really like this photo. The path past the laurel roots helps lift the main subject out of the background. Yes, it is still a bit busy. I have to agree that short DOF can help accentuate a subject like that from out of the background. It would be interesting to burn a sheet next time you are shooting a similar scene and try a photo at about f/8, with the plane of focus oriented to follow the subject well. If you hate it, that's fine. The other thing about the busy scenes is consideration of your final print size. Since you are generally printing to 8x10, it's still a relatively smallish prints, which can have a different feel when experiencing busy scenes.

[Corran]

I am finding that large format images 4x5 so far, just do not have justice done to them when printed small. 16x20 is okay, but there is so much detail and things to look at, that small doesn't work. The more I like at a 4x5 image or larger that is done well, I seem to always discover something new I did not notice before. Hopefully, my image approaches that.

Large, grand scenes are different than intimate, more sparse compositions. I am doing better lately choosing scenes based on planned print sizes. For example, recently I shot a single leaf on the edge of a sandy creek, which had a ton of texture. I don't think it was an interesting enough shot to warrant a large print, but contact printed on Ilford ART 300 paper (textured) to accent the image qualities is awesome. The more I print 4x5 contact prints the more I enjoy them, especially these small vignettes or strong, graphic scenes.

Each size print can have different qualities and feel.