Getting ready for a boat ride.
Jun 8, 2014 11:06:31 #
Been a while since I last asked for a critique, so here goes. I liked the spot and couldn't resist the shot. Taken with a D700 and a 28-70 2.8. It was hand held but I leaned up against a post for support. I thought I would submit without post processing, I'm not sure it needed it. Thanks for your opinions.
Jun 8, 2014 16:42:22 #
Some of the angles are interesting. The exposure seems to be about right, maybe a tiny bit more contrast. The trouble I see is there is really no subject. Maybe if you were taking a picture of a boat using the trees and rocks to frame it. Or how about people on the stairs carrying their gear down to the lake. It just needs something for my eye to rest on and say this is what I am suppose to be looking at.
Jun 9, 2014 07:32:22 #
I would say it is a perfect shot. But what are we looking at to focus on. It is a nice subject, but has no subject. I would walk over to the walk and take a few there. Let the railing take you into the trees/water.
Erv
Erv
Jun 9, 2014 08:16:23 #
Thank you Country Mama and Erv. Sometimes the subject of a photo is more evident to one person than the other. To me the subject is the beautiful Mississippi river beach boat landing. It was meant to be a close up landscape of just that. A peaceful place to remember and capture at that time. Is this shot much different than one of the Bad Lands or Grand Canyon or a city scape? Personally I don't think so. There is beauty in many places we often take for granted. However, I understand and appreciate your desires for a focal point and will try to include it in the future.
Jun 9, 2014 13:12:11 #
I can appreciate your wish to convey the beauty of the Mississippi river and the boat landing. However the boat landing and the river itself are obscured by the two major elements in this image - the trees and the rock pile. The essence of composition is picking the subject and then arranging the image, mostly by moving yourself and/or selecting the right lens, to enhance and focus the eye on the subject. When the subject is obvious, like the Grand Canyon, composing is easier but it is still possible to take a boring picture of the Grand Canyon if you ignore the elements of composition.
Jun 9, 2014 14:14:34 #
For me the exposure is fine but where is your story? All I see is some openings in the trees and with hard looking I can see a man standing there. I have no idea why he is there because he is too far away. After looking for a minute or so I don't even care why he is there. It is a nice picture but of what and why.
I am sorry if I sound negative but I just don't know how to make it any plainer. The picture may have some special meaning to you personally because you might enjoy that particular area often yourself. You might know the person in the picture. For the rest of us there is no connection.
If he is waiting for a boat I would recommend making the picture about him and/or the boat. Get closer so you will have a clear story to show us.
Dennis
I am sorry if I sound negative but I just don't know how to make it any plainer. The picture may have some special meaning to you personally because you might enjoy that particular area often yourself. You might know the person in the picture. For the rest of us there is no connection.
If he is waiting for a boat I would recommend making the picture about him and/or the boat. Get closer so you will have a clear story to show us.
Dennis
Jun 9, 2014 14:18:25 #
mcveed wrote:
I can appreciate your wish to convey the beauty of... (show quote)
Hard to understand that such a landing could not have been more attractively portrayed than by having the C.O.I. being the rip-rap on the bank...?? As such it could have been a landing at the edge of a small lake or small river. Nothing here speaks to me of the beautiful and mighty "Mississip"!
impact:2.5
tech:3
comp.3.5
9/15
Dave in SD
Jun 9, 2014 14:36:32 #
Leon S wrote:
Thank you Country Mama and Erv. Sometimes the sub... (show quote)
I agree with you, Leon. I think you could get a wonderful shot at this spot. Sometimes you have to evaluate exactly what it was that attracted you to take that shot and zero in on it. As shot, it is hard for me to get the feeling that you had there that day, but I am sure that there is something there because something attracted you to it. Was it the cool of the trees near the lake and the waves lapping gently to shore? The sparkle of the sun on the water? Certainly it wasn't the dry hot rocks that attracted you ... they take up a good share of your frame. I think this is the hardest thing about photography ... to pick the thing out of an image that communicates the feeling we meant to convey.
Jun 9, 2014 21:54:22 #
You are so right Leon! I understand completely. Some of my shots don't show up here because they are mine and anyone else looking at them would think I am nuts.:) Well maybe I should say MORE nuts.:):) I am glad you shoot for you. And keep posting your shots. We get new ideas with every post.
Erv
Erv
Leon S wrote:
Thank you Country Mama and Erv. Sometimes the sub... (show quote)
Jun 10, 2014 00:15:57 #
This shot remains me of my favorite painting is Monet's The River. Calm, summery, quiet. However, the Monet has easily recognized subject matter; this does not. Both have trees in the foreground obscuring the river and the distant shoreline. The suggestion of what is there is the intriguing element.
From a technical standpoint, I would darken the sky and the rocks in the foreground. And I would use a slight linear gradient to darken the rocks. Finally, a little negative vignette. However, it will still lack something more interesting for the subject.
From a technical standpoint, I would darken the sky and the rocks in the foreground. And I would use a slight linear gradient to darken the rocks. Finally, a little negative vignette. However, it will still lack something more interesting for the subject.
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