a Question on composition: This photo is of no special place, (other than it is in Denali NP) but something about it caught my eye. my question is, Should I have included more of the...

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

This photo is of no special place, (other than it is in Denali NP) but something about it caught my eye. my question is, Should I have included more of the Glacial rivers on the outside edges, or would just a different crop work? Even tho I will not be back there for a few years, it will help me the next time I see a similar view.

(Download)

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Good question. The image as-is has a lot more impact when viewed full-screen rather than via the small thumbnail. It would seem maybe more cloud / sky / broken cloud above the distant mountains would allow the mountains to move down into the frame away from the top margin. If there was more the original frame, maybe moving the bottom margin up to the center horizontal line of this version would create a mountain & cloud image, maybe cropped 16:9 to retain the wide-ness of the image. The rivers exiting the sides give a sense 'motion', but possibly the curved river that runs through the center might have the bend inside the frame rather than exiting and re-entering, i.e., shooting slightly more to your right. Could you have walked down the ridge maybe 20-yards or so straight ahead and have the foreground be more of the river rather than the ridge?

Keith S Loc: Federal Way, Wa

This was a great question and wonderful response. I am struggling with my landscape composition and the response is so clear and just lite the light bulb for me.

Thanks for asking the question and thanks for a great response.

Keith

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

CHG_CANON wrote:

Good question. The image as-is has a lot more impa... (show quote)

Luckily, I have a couple shots that frame this one on either side, some of them with more sky showing. I may be able to do a stitch to get that view. That will help me try those re-crops out, add a bit more on the right and give it some more sky, reduce the foreground.
Thank you for taking the time to reply.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

pmorin wrote:

This photo is of no special place, (other than it is in Denali NP) but something about it caught my eye. my question is, Should I have included more of the Glacial rivers on the outside edges, or would just a different crop work? Even tho I will not be back there for a few years, it will help me the next time I see a similar view.

The foreground river bed detracts from the leading line of the gentle S-curve leading off to the distant mountains. Crop that out for a stronger composition.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

It doesn't help that your main leading line disappears off the edge of the frame. As a general guideline, that's something you want to avoid. Beyond that, the question is, what do you want the photo to be about? Is it the distant mountains or is it the unusual sight of the alluvial deposits in the mid-ground, or is it the river curving its way into the distance? The alluvial deposits are an unusual sight and make some interesting patterns, so perhaps you don't want to lose them. With the right framing you can have the alluvial deposits and the river kept within the frame and the distant mountains as a backdrop. The mountains are so distant that you would have to lose other elements if you want to crop down to give the mountains more prominence. It's your choice. What do you want the main subject to be?

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

pmorin wrote:

This photo is of no special place, (other than it is in Denali NP) but something about it caught my eye. my question is, Should I have included more of the Glacial rivers on the outside edges, or would just a different crop work? Even tho I will not be back there for a few years, it will help me the next time I see a similar view.

I think your problem was two fold at the time you took the shot.
1) you suffered from an embarrassment of riches. There was so much in front of you that was interesting.
2) you did not have an idea of what you wanted the final product to be.

You could have decided it was about the mountains and used the one curved section of glacial river to lead the eye to the mountains as suggested. Or you might have chosen to tell a story about the rivers and taken a wider shot or stitched a panorama that explored the complexity of the rivers themselves.

This is a problem I share with you. I often do not give enough thought to what I want to say with an image before shooting.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

Thank you all for the good suggestions and advise. Taking all your advise into consideration, I stitched a pano of the scene today, did some cropping and I hope it comes up ok on your screens. To dsmeltz I can only say you are probably right about the overabundance of things in my sight and not being able to consolidate it into a composed photo. That may be why I took so many shots that I could find two for the panorama shot.

(Download)

R.G. Loc: Scotland

pmorin wrote:

....you are probably right about the overabundance of things in my sight and not being able to consolidate it into a composed photo....

It's what minniev would describe as a kitchen sink shot. With so many divergent leading lines and no obvious single subject you'll probably not be able to consolidate it into a balanced composition, but it's probably the sort of shot where the viewer will want to wander about freely.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

R.G. wrote:

It's what minniev would describe as a kitchen sink shot. With so many divergent leading lines and no obvious single subject you'll probably not be able to consolidate it into a balanced composition, but it's probably the sort of shot where the viewer will want to wander about freely.

As my Lady Katrina said about it, “Its just so beautiful you want to capture it all!”

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

pmorin wrote:

Thank you all for the good suggestions and advise. Taking all your advise into consideration, I stitched a pano of the scene today, did some cropping and I hope it comes up ok on your screens. To dsmeltz I can only say you are probably right about the overabundance of things in my sight and not being able to consolidate it into a composed photo. That may be why I took so many shots that I could find two for the panorama shot.

I like the simplified version best. Really improved my eye movement in looking at the download. May I be the first to say that the exposure is perfect?

Andy

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

pmorin wrote:

Thank you all for the good suggestions and advise...

The simplified version is very enjoyable! I'm very into "kitchen sink" landscapes (I can tell your Katrina and I would get along just fine

) but with your first posted shot, there were just too many lines taking me this way and that.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

AndyH wrote:

I like the simplified version best. Really improved my eye movement in looking at the download. May I be the first to say that the exposure is perfect?

Andy

I agree, after I added the outside edges the whole photo took on a better look. My post skills are getting better so the exposure also is improving. Thanks for noticing.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

Linda From Maine wrote:

The simplified version is very enjoyable! I'm very into "kitchen sink" landscapes (I can tell your Katrina and I would get along just fine

) but with your first posted shot, there were just too many lines taking me this way and that.

I know what you mean now. After seeing what it can look like, it gives me some mental plot points for the next time I am out shooting.

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

As a general landscape composition rule, using the rule of thirds, if one wants to emphasize the ground then the sky should take up the top 1/3 of the photo, but if one wants to emphasize the sky, the sky should take up the top 2/3. Your pano shot comes closer to that than your original which may partially explain the preference for the pano by most of those replying, but also the addition of the aforementioned bits of the leading lines missing from the original. That being said, rules were made to be broken, so experiment and keep posting. A very enjoyable scene.

Walt