Large Format Landscapes

[chassis]

Northern Plains

Harley, incredible!

[dperez]

I have to say that I thought Vaughn's criticisms were constructive. I'm all for the congratulatory comments, I'm guilty of it myself, but there is much more utility in constructive criticism than can be had by several attaboys; especially when the criticism comes from those who have "been around the block" a few times.

-DP

Harsh? I suppose so. Anyone named Harley should be able to take it! But it is all just my personal opinion. I like the image. The subject is totally beautiful. The color carries the image, I just think a stronger composition could have carried it further.

So I still stand by my first impression. Wonderful light/color off the cottonwoods, especially the strong angling of the sunlight and shadows through the cottonwood leaves. The image just feels static to me, without the benefit of stability. On one hand it feels like the viewer is too far away and what surrounds the trees is more of a distraction from the main attraction...and on the other hand, that perhaps the viewer is too close and we need more of the surroundings to give this great bit of color and light better grounding in this Place.

I got out a couple pieces of paper and did my usual crop-it-into-a-square thing, and it worked a little better for me, but I had to also take a little off the top. A bit extreme with my cropping and not very helpful. What would I do differently? Don't know. From the same place, it would be tempting to get the modified darkslide and make a 4x10. Or keep to the original format/lens and do a vertical, but one has to be there, and I obviously was not .

Vaughn

[dperez]

cpercy, love the detail. Cool story.

"roots & erosion" Painted desert, AZ

This image will always haunt me about what might have been.
I had walked quite a ways into the desert, it was late in the evening with the light fading fast, when I came across this scene.
I was tired and hot and I knew I had to work fast to get the Deardorff set up in time to make an exposure. I made a quick assessment
of the spot I wanted to plant the trusty Gitzo, and as I was mounting the camera on the tripod I glanced down and there directly under the center column I
saw the corner of some bills sticking out of the dirt. In my excitement to get the shot off I just reached down grabbed the bills knocked the dirt off
and stuck them in my pocket, with only a preoccupied thought of how odd. By the time I had finished composing, metering, exposing, and breaking down the
gear, and with the failing light and a long hike through rough desert terrain back to the car I forgot all about the mysterious bills. Only the next day did I find
them in my pocket some $120 worth. Now anyone but a nut case photographer in a quest for the last light would have stopped immediately and started digging
for the rest of the hidden treasure, but oh well it just me like this image that much more. For all I know I might have been standing on top of D.B. Cooper.

roots and erosion by Clay Percy, on Flickr

[Vaughn]

The composition gives a real nice sense of depth and open space. It almost has a 3D quality to it. Very well done.

I agree. And it seems to me to be doing something similar to the previous on. The lines of the cut grasses lead my eye back into the middle of the image much like the road did, and the darker hills reverses the atmospheric distancing and brings my eye forward again.

[Vaughn]

I have to say that I thought Vaughn's criticisms were constructive. I'm all for the congratulatory comments, I'm guilty of it myself, but there is much more utility in constructive criticism than can be had by several attaboys; especially when the criticism comes from those who have "been around the block" a few times.

-DP

Well, my second attempt was, IMO, constructive. The first though was a bit blunt...hence the need for the second.

[Harley Goldman]

Well, my second attempt was, IMO, constructive. The first though was a bit blunt...hence the need for the second.

Vaughn, I would agree your second post gave me some constructive criticism, which I have absolutely no problem with. If someone tells me my image is doing nothing for them and constructively tells me why, no worries. I am all for that. I am more into improving my images with solid feedback than getting attaoys. It is far too easy to get myopic in my own work. The first post made me laugh more than anything else. I found it an interesting reflection on you as the author.

[lbenac]

Wista 45DX HP5 510-Pyro Jobo 3010

Three shots put together in a pano.



Cheers,

Luc

[cpercy]

Super Graphic - 150mm/5.6 Fuji - HP5+

4x5 MPP - 210mm/5.6 Nikkor - Tri-X

Both of these are super. I like the way you have used the near far effect, choosing subjects that have small in scale, detailed objects in the foreground that do not over power the scale of the distant objects. I think this ties the image together in a much more cohesive fashion. I so often see just the opposite where the giant scale of the foreground elements divide the image. These are in my way of thinking much more subtle and refined examples of the technique then you commonly see.

[Vaughn]

... The first post made me laugh more than anything else. I found it an interesting reflection on you as the author.

After getting whacked by your big yellow hammer, I should have waited until my head cleared before posting the first time. LOL! I should have used all the second post's wishy-washy words the first time like I usually do. Internet manners and all that.

[scm]

Both of these are super. I like the way you have used the near far effect, choosing subjects that have small in scale, detailed objects in the foreground that do not over power the scale of the distant objects. I think this ties the image together in a much more cohesive fashion. I so often see just the opposite where the giant scale of the foreground elements divide the image. These are in my way of thinking much more subtle and refined examples of the technique then you commonly see.

Thank you!