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

[jnantz]

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.

ahh got it ! thanks, being from the northeast we don't have that problem !

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.

thanks for the info !
IDK
i haven't been doing LF for that long ( since about 1988ish ) and i've come to the opposite conclusion about LF and print size
and realized if it doesn't work compositionally or otherwize as a contact print or even as a "reduction" making it larger isn't really
going to do much to improve it .. then again, im broke so maybe that is my wallet speaking LOL!
have fun tweeking it to get it the way you want ..

[Steven Ruttenberg]

ahh got it ! thanks, being from the northeast we don't have that problem !





thanks for the info !
IDK
i haven't been doing LF for that long ( since about 1988ish ) and i've come to the opposite conclusion about LF and print size
and realized if it doesn't work compositionally or otherwize as a contact print or even as a "reduction" making it larger isn't really
going to do much to improve it .. then again, im broke so maybe that is my wallet speaking LOL!
have fun tweeking it to get it the way you want ..

Part of the way I am wired I do everything big. I just seem to prefer things big. I also like small intimate type prints that are full of detail. I have only been doing large format for a year or so now. I have so much to learn I hope I am around in 50 years still doing this.

[jnantz]

Part of the way I am wired I do everything big. I just seem to prefer things big. I also like small intimate type prints that are full of detail. I have only been doing large format for a year or so now. I have so much to learn I hope I am around in 50 years still doing this.

keep plugging away and with ever click of your shutter you will get better.
one thing i was taught by a painting teacher is to squint your eyes
when you are looking at a scene .. some of the mid tones drop out and you are left with the important stuff...
if you have to be going big i'd really squint your eyes both when you are making your exposure and when you work on your scans,
this simple trick that no one wants you to know about **
( like every bit of junk mail i get in my email bin ) might help you whittle down stuff and help you
distill your images .. distractions in a little print might be missed but when you enlarge ...
... and then again who knows sometimes the distractions are the point ? IDK ...
a friend used to love shooting ultra sharp f22 images and enlarging them to bigger than 16x20
(without retouching them) ticked off his models ... smallprints .. well they didn't see
every pore or blemish but big lol.. he laughed when he told me this stuff and said the pores and blemishes
were the point because he was taking "honest portraits" ..
i thought he was putting a portfolio together for all the before-photos
for that anti aging product cindy crawford sells ( he wasn't )

good luck !

** ps please feel free to do what you do to junk mail ( delete it / ignore it )
if you don't like this simple trick no one wants you to know about ...

[Steven Ruttenberg]

keep plugging away and with ever click of your shutter you will get better.
one thing i was taught by a painting teacher is to squint your eyes
when you are looking at a scene .. some of the mid tones drop out and you are left with the important stuff...
if you have to be going big i'd really squint your eyes both when you are making your exposure and when you work on your scans,
this simple trick that no one wants you to know about **
( like every bit of junk mail i get in my email bin ) might help you whittle down stuff and help you
distill your images .. distractions in a little print might be missed but when you enlarge ...
... and then again who knows sometimes the distractions are the point ? IDK ...
a friend used to love shooting ultra sharp f22 images and enlarging them to bigger than 16x20
(without retouching them) ticked off his models ... smallprints .. well they didn't see
every pore or blemish but big lol.. he laughed when he told me this stuff and said the pores and blemishes
were the point because he was taking "honest portraits" ..
i thought he was putting a portfolio together for all the before-photos
for that anti aging product cindy crawford sells ( he wasn't )

good luck !

** ps please feel free to do what you do to junk mail ( delete it / ignore it )
if you don't like this simple trick no one wants you to know about ...

Always open to new ideas, I like to think I have more to learn and will and always will have more to learn.

[Steven Ruttenberg]

What if we changed the requirements to say 1 a week max? Might bring in more people or at least keep the images fresh.

[Corran]

We are getting into the time of year where people are travelling for the holidays, and also I think many just don't want critique necessarily. This was just an idea so we'll see how it works out. There is also the general "critique" thread if you'd like:

https://www.largeformatphotography.i...s-FOR-CRITIQUE

[bgh]

I think that this is a terrific idea for a thread, perhaps I can toss my hat in the ring. As some here may know, landscapes are not usually my thing; as a historian, I have generally focused my attention on the built environment. However, landscapes are becoming some more of an interest for me, and I brought my new-to-me Wista 4x5 RF with me on a trip that my wife and I took to the UK this fall. While staying in the Scottish Highlands, we took a late-afternoon hike up Ben y Vrackie, on the outskirts of Pitlochry.

This is a view of the summit, as we hiked over a shoulder, over which the trail dropped before then making the final ascent. I was struck by this view, with the shoulder in the foreground, deep in the shadow of the low sun, and the peak in the full, glowing late-afternoon sun. I metered primarily for the sunlight, as I wanted the angled shoulder in the foreground and rising to the left to form a strong graphical element with relatively little detail. I shot this on Tmax 400, which, for better or worse, has such a terrific range that it still picked up a lot of detail in the foreground. I used a 240mm Schneider g-claron.

Because of a looming book deadline, I haven't had a chance to get to the darkroom after processing the negatives from this trip. I am really looking forward to printing this negative, though. When I do so, I anticipate letting the shoulder go fairly dark, leaving only enough detail to see the trail going over the ridge and to get a sense of the texture of the heather. Any other suggestions or critiques, however, will be most welcome.

Bruce

[Steven Ruttenberg]

I think that this is a terrific idea for a thread, perhaps I can toss my hat in the ring. As some here may know, landscapes are not usually my thing; as a historian, I have generally focused my attention on the built environment. However, landscapes are becoming some more of an interest for me, and I brought my new-to-me Wista 4x5 RF with me on a trip that my wife and I took to the UK this fall. While staying in the Scottish Highlands, we took a late-afternoon hike up Ben y Vrackie, on the outskirts of Pitlochry.

This is a view of the summit, as we hiked over a shoulder, over which the trail dropped before then making the final ascent. I was struck by this view, with the shoulder in the foreground, deep in the shadow of the low sun, and the peak in the full, glowing late-afternoon sun. I metered primarily for the sunlight, as I wanted the angled shoulder in the foreground and rising to the left to form a strong graphical element with relatively little detail. I shot this on Tmax 400, which, for better or worse, has such a terrific range that it still picked up a lot of detail in the foreground. I used a 240mm Schneider g-claron.

Because of a looming book deadline, I haven't had a chance to get to the darkroom after processing the negatives from this trip. I am really looking forward to printing this negative, though. When I do so, I anticipate letting the shoulder go fairly dark, leaving only enough detail to see the trail going over the ridge and to get a sense of the texture of the heather. Any other suggestions or critiques, however, will be most welcome.

Bruce

Welcome to the family of critique.

Good concept with the lines of the shadows in foreground. I might lighten the foreground a bit for a slightly less contrast between dark and light. There also appear to be shadows on the side of mountain in background I might play with to bring out a bit more with some dodge and burn. If there is any detail of in sky, I might try to bring out as well. I might also try to get some overall content ast out of scene as well. Overall good photo.

[bgh]

Hi Steven--

Thanks for the suggestions! Yes, there definitely are some interesting shadows on the face of Ben y Vrackie, and I would like to play them up a bit.

I'm looking forward to the chance to get back to the darkroom and start printing, which will be sometime in early January. I definitely will keep in mind these suggestions.

Thanks again,
Bruce

Welcome to the family of critique.

Good concept with the lines of the shadows in foreground. I might lighten the foreground a bit for a slightly less contrast between dark and light. There also appear to be shadows on the side of mountain in background I might play with to bring out a bit more with some dodge and burn. If there is any detail of in sky, I might try to bring out as well. I might also try to get some overall content ast out of scene as well. Overall good photo.

[bgh]

Hi Jen--

That's awesome, thank you! I recall seeing references to the film, but I had never quite got around to looking for it. I watched the first few minutes, and it looks fantastic. A couple of months ago I started a new project at the Homestead National Monument of America in Nebraska, which interprets the Homestead Act of 1862, and this film fits right in with that. I deliberately avoided packing in my 4x5 on the initial research trip, though, since I knew that I wouldn't be able to resist taking it out, which would have been terribly detrimental to my already-packed schedule. Perhaps I will have more flexible time on my next trip.

I was happy to note that, not only was Paul Strand involved in the photography, but Virgil Thompson did the score. What a great combination!

Thanks again,
Bruce

Bruce

as historian you may know this, if not, then it may prompt your visual mind :
“plow that broke the plains” — strand was a camerman on project

available at: https://archive.org/details/plow_that_broke_the_plains

MbTL4F


Jen