Colored Rock a Distraction? Photo taken in the late afternoon at Sardine Lake in the Gold Lakes Basin Recreation Area near Sierra City California. My sister-in-law thinks the rock in...

vcmestimator Loc: Yuba City, CA

Photo taken in the late afternoon at Sardine Lake in the Gold Lakes Basin Recreation Area near Sierra City California. My sister-in-law thinks the rock in the lower left corner of the photo is distracting. I pointed this out to another photographer and he liked it as is. I am including both versions and would appreciate any input.

Thanks

George

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deanfl Loc: Georgia

vcmestimator wrote:

Photo taken in the late afternoon at Sardine Lake in the Gold Lakes Basin Recreation Area near Sierra City California. My sister-in-law thinks the rock in the lower left corner of the photo is distracting. I pointed this out to another photographer and he liked it as is. I am including both versions and would appreciate any input.

Thanks

George

I’ll vote for #1....I agree that the rock in question is distracting...but it draws me in...makes me take a look at the rest of the scene...and makes the photo more unique.

amyinsparta Loc: White county, TN

Yes. Much better without it. Beautiful shot.

vcmestimator Loc: Yuba City, CA

deanfl wrote:

I’ll vote for #1....I agree that the rock in question is distracting...but it draws me in...makes me take a look at the rest of the scene...and makes the photo more unique.

Thank you for your input.

George

vcmestimator Loc: Yuba City, CA

amyinsparta wrote:

Yes. Much better without it. Beautiful shot.

Thank you for your input.

George

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

vcmestimator wrote:

Photo taken in the late afternoon at Sardine Lake in the Gold Lakes Basin Recreation Area near Sierra City California. My sister-in-law thinks the rock in the lower left corner of the photo is distracting. I pointed this out to another photographer and he liked it as is. I am including both versions and would appreciate any input.

Thanks

George

George, I find that red rock in the left corner is distracting because your eye goes to that first rather than visually scan the entire mage for it's beauty. So, I vote for no colored rock, your second image. What do you think. You are the creator.

Dave327 Loc: Duluth, GA. USA

#2 - the rock pulled my eye right to it.

anotherview Loc: California

The reddish rock distracts for its bright coloration amid muted colors. It presents a basic error of composition when framing.

Take care when framing the subject to omit distracting elements, in order to keep attention on the main subject.

vcmestimator wrote:

Photo taken in the late afternoon at Sardine Lake in the Gold Lakes Basin Recreation Area near Sierra City California. My sister-in-law thinks the rock in the lower left corner of the photo is distracting. I pointed this out to another photographer and he liked it as is. I am including both versions and would appreciate any input.

Thanks

George

larduggan Loc: Burlington, VT

It doesn't need to be a question of either/or. Here's a third way you can deal with this kind of situation.

You can change the nature of the color on that rock (with Selective Color in Photoshop, for example). It could be lighter or darker, a different hue, less saturated...or any combination of these that sits well with your eye,
and that seems to fit well with the whole picture.

I find I can sometimes keep some interesting color that would otherwise be distracting.

George in McKinney Loc: McKinney, Texas

vcmestimator wrote:

Photo taken in the late afternoon at Sardine Lake in the Gold Lakes Basin Recreation Area near Sierra City California. My sister-in-law thinks the rock in the lower left corner of the photo is distracting. I pointed this out to another photographer and he liked it as is. I am including both versions and would appreciate any input.

Thanks

George

George, I too agree with Dean; the added color draws me into the scene. The added color makes the whole scene pop.

vcmestimator Loc: Yuba City, CA

Dave327 wrote:

#2 - the rock pulled my eye right to it.

Thank you for your input

vcmestimator Loc: Yuba City, CA

anotherview wrote:

The reddish rock distracts for its bright coloration amid muted colors. It presents a basic error of composition when framing.

Take care when framing the subject to omit distracting elements, in order to keep attention on the main subject.

Thank you for your comment. I appreciate your input.

vcmestimator Loc: Yuba City, CA

larduggan wrote:

It doesn't need to be a question of either/or. Here's a third way you can deal with this kind of situation.

You can change the nature of the color on that rock (with Selective Color in Photoshop, for example). It could be lighter or darker, a different hue, less saturated...or any combination of these that sits well with your eye,
and that seems to fit well with the whole picture.

I find I can sometimes keep some interesting color that would otherwise be distracting.

Thank you for your suggestion. That is what I did with the second photo. I am thinking about doing that to another rock to balance photo.

vcmestimator Loc: Yuba City, CA

George in McKinney wrote:

George, I too agree with Dean; the added color draws me into the scene. The added color makes the whole scene pop.

George, thank you for your input.

George

vcmestimator Loc: Yuba City, CA

Thank everyone for their input and suggestions. I decided to tone down the rock and using selective color add some color to a few additional rocks to balance the photo.

George

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