View Full Version : Critique #15 Theme *Landscape*
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The primary purpose of this thread is to provide a forum where photographers can give and receive constructive criticism on one another's photographs. By setting up some basic guidelines we hope that this thread will provide a forum where the give and take of honest constructive criticism can help us become better photographers.
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If you'd like to participate in a critique thread and need some ideas about how to proceed with viewing images critically, you may find this thread helpful:
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Remember: Please do not provide criticism on an image or comment in a critique thread unless you also have an image posted.
This thread is now active, please follow the guidelines if you'd like to participate! Have Fun!
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Gabriel M.A.
08-09-2006, 07:11
I'll play; I'm in.
Question: does it have to be a "nature" landscape, or can it be an urban landscape too?
me too, but I can't upload until later tonight!
:)
Here is my image; it is about sea oats at sunrise time during a hazy summer morning.
Need one more for Landscape critique!
:)
AOI Photo
08-09-2006, 18:07
I'm in will post in a little bit
OK, here is mine:
"The Golden Gate", 50/2 coll. Summicron
(hope two bridge posts are OK ...)
Cheers,
Roland.
Gabriel M.A.
08-09-2006, 18:47
Before anybody comments on this, I'd like to know if there's a consensus this qualifies as "landscape":
AOI Photo
08-09-2006, 19:10
Before anybody comments on this, I'd like to know if there's a consensus this qualifies as "landscape":
I'd say it is.
AOI Photo
08-09-2006, 19:19
American Basin
Moskva 5 6x9 Reala
So much beautiful color...
Here's a b&w "landscape"
\/
OK, here is mine:
"The Golden Gate", 50/2 coll. Summicron
(hope two bridge posts are OK ...)
Cheers,
Roland.
Nice shot, Roland. I was looking at this last night, at home, on my Mac, and now here today at work, on a PC. It looks great on both, but last night I was struck by how accurate a capture of the sun it actually is; I found myself squinting like it was real! It's not as intense on the PC, but the effect is still there. I think that's what I really like about this shot. Nice work facing the beast directly and stealing a little bit of it! :)
Compositionally, it's very well done. I don't mind the slight obstruction of the view with the pampas grass in the foreground. It adds nicely to scale (despite being pampas grass--the stuff is a voracious weed, great for erosion control, but a blight on the coast and coastal parks where it has taken hold and grown aggressively out of control [eradication is difficult and costly]--but personal history with the stuff has caused me to digress! :) ). There's seemed to be a lot more in the shadows when viewing on my Mac. I thought the image might be improved with a crop of the tree/shrub on the left, but when I crop here on the screen with a sheet of paper, I came to the conclusion that it is important to the balance of the composition.
It's hard to provide a fresh view of the GG bridge, but I feel you've managed an interesting perspective that brings other classic California elements (coast, sun, flora) into the composition. In fact, those elements, whether it is the sun blaring around the hillside, or the coastal hills, shrubs, and grass partially obstructing our view, compete nicely within the composition. The image is less about the bridge, really, and more about California. Nice work!
:)
31058
Lake Como, New Jersey
Leica M6 / 50mm Summicron
HP5/D76
It's a bit hard to tell if five or more are participating. So if this thread is over the limit, I'll remove my post
31058
Lake Como, New Jersey
Leica M6 / 50mm Summicron
HP5/D76
It's a bit hard to tell if five or more are participating. So if this thread is over the limit, I'll remove my post
Generally, one indication of a full thread is if the participants have posted images. I don't mind if you stay and participate, if it's ok with the others. I've been toying with the idea of trying out 6 & 7 participant critique threads, so if you don't mind being part of a "first," then stay. Everyone else OK with it?
:)
Cool with me.
Ray, thanks a lot for your comments on the picture. It is about California.
I have lived all over the world in the last 20 years, but only recently
feel at home again - Kalifoniah has adopted me :)
Cheers,
Roland.
Generally, one indication of a full thread is if the participants have posted images. I don't mind if you stay and participate, if it's ok with the others. I've been toying with the idea of trying out 6 & 7 participant critique threads, so if you don't mind being part of a "first," then stay. Everyone else OK with it?
:)
Ok with me.
Of course, it is OK.
Raid
Gabriel M.A.
08-10-2006, 08:58
I have absolutely no problem.
Before anybody comments on this, I'd like to know if there's a consensus this qualifies as "landscape":
This is a beauty, and another one that looked better on my Mac screen last night. It still has that glowing dusk (or sunrise) quality, but on the Mac screen the subtle color shifts really came across.
I love the low/water level angle, the foreground expanse of water, and the beer sign. :D My eye enters the image at the low point of the suspension cables, the brightest point, slightly off and above center. That's a good point. It can probably be moved slightly left and more into a third by cropping out the extraneous foliage peeking in on the left side. The softness on the upper right corner is a little bothersome. I'm not sure what you can do there. I agree with putting the cable into the upper right corner. That always adds a certain amount of dynamics. You may be able to drive that cable directly into the corner and eliminate some of the softness with a slight crop, but I would be leery of pulling the entry point toward the center. However, the higher horizon and perspective may let you get away with centralizing it. :confused: hmmm :)
I really like the image. The colors are wonderful, and the mood is quiet and serene. It would make a gorgeous print. Nice work, Gabriel. :)
.
edit: yup! back home on the Mac, it opens up nicely and the sublties in color are excellent!
OK, here is mine:
"The Golden Gate", 50/2 coll. Summicron
(hope two bridge posts are OK ...)
Cheers,
Roland.
Roland: This is a stunning photo of the Golden Gate Bridge. I love it. I wonder how you got the golden glow! Another persepctive would have been to have a different foreground, maybe some more water. Excellent work.
Raid
Before anybody comments on this, I'd like to know if there's a consensus this qualifies as "landscape":
Gabriel,
This is a very nice photo, but I am troubled by the large space of dark water on the left and on the bottom. The dark water is needed to amplify the rosy glow of the sunset on the right. Maybe some cropping from the left and from below would frame the image better. Well done.
Raid
American Basin
Moskva 5 6x9 Reala
AOI (name would help):
This is a beautiful, postcard like photo of the landscape. I may have experimented with getting close to the red and yellow flowers in the foregound and having them add some punch to the beautiful scene.
Raid
So much beautiful color...
Here's a b&w "landscape"
\/
Ray: What a beautiful scene if it hasn't been for the traffic light! On each side of the traffic light pole the scene is beautiful, so cropping may not do it here.
Raid
Here is my image; it is about sea oats at sunrise time during a hazy summer morning.
beautiful composition using natural elements. Nice choice of format, too. I feel it could benefit from a bump up in density as well as a bump up in contast. It could be my monitor, but it seems a little dark and a little flat. Beautiful shot that makes nice use of the sun. :)
:)
American Basin
Moskva 5 6x9 Reala
The images here have all made good use of large expanses of space, and that's a strong point here as well. The low vantage point makes me feel immersed in the scene. Great Dof and very sharp too. The focal point of the image is the mountain range and a strong compositional element is the hint of a 'S' curve that is snaking its way up and into the image toward the range. The color balance feels a *little* on the cool side. Very nice image. Smart composition. Beuatiful location. :)
.
31058
Lake Como, New Jersey
Leica M6 / 50mm Summicron
HP5/D76
It's a bit hard to tell if five or more are participating. So if this thread is over the limit, I'll remove my post
Yay! Back viewing on my Mac!
This image is nice with the bend in the lake providing a very nice line to follow. I think compositionally it is very good. It is dark, however, and whereas visually the dark foreground is OK, losing the tree detail as the branches come in off the sky and cross the distant shore is problematic for me, especially on the far left tree. I think the image is just a tad past that threshold of dark and into too dark. I really enjoy what's happening with the sky and the lake. I think I see what you're after. The opening in the sky is very nice, like a last burst of light. I think you may be able to work this one by bringing the density up a little and working the burn and dodge tools to open the shadows while keeping the detail and quality of the sky. It's a peaceful fleeting moment just before the darkness engulfs everything. Good eye. Very nice composition.
:)
AOI Photo
08-10-2006, 20:48
Raid.
Overall I really like this image. I especially like the placement of the sun just peeping into the frame. It's an unusuall approace to landscape, and the colors of the sky are beautiful. I do think the overall toen is a little dark,a nd lightening it would really be great. Oh and I'm Jason by the way.
Roland
Just Beautiful, the golden light, the featherlike qualaties of the plants, the sharp justting agleof the rock. A new look at a famailiar subject. The only thing I could say as constructive criticisim is that I might crop in a little from the left, making that hard angle of rock run right to the edge of the frame.
Gabriel.
Love the two bridges and the reflection of the closer one in the water. I feel a little tightening up from the bootom would help a little. Roight now I tend to focus a little more on the back bridge, and I think the crop would change that (hope that made sense)
Ray.
I'm really drwn to this image. I think the unspoiled nature of the beach, coupled witht he presenceo the streetlight suggests the gradual encroaching of man/modern times, into the beauty of the beach. Extremely nice. The figure is a nice echoing of the line of the pole. I would crop out the street entirely as I think the streetlight makes a better point if it is the sole modern aspect of the photo.
Jshelly
I like this image compositionally. Initially I thought it was a shade too dark, but the more I look at ot the more I like it. Rather than lightening the foreground or the trees, I would try and open up the right side of the sky a little, to let the dark tree stand out a little more.
As always a great collection of different images.
Thanks for the feedback.
This was one of those take a quick walk around the lake before the sun disappears and shoot like your on the street shots. It's a great feeling when you hang your negs to dry and a frame grabs your attention.
I'm comfortable with street shooting and know absolutely nothing about landscape except keeping the horizon level so I guess I sort combined the two here
This is fun, excellent idea Ray!
Does it qualify as landscape?
31058
Lake Como, New Jersey
Leica M6 / 50mm Summicron
HP5/D76
It's a bit hard to tell if five or more are participating. So if this thread is over the limit, I'll remove my post
This is a nice photo. The tree on the right is more dominant than the tree on the left, and I would crop out the left 25% of the photo to allow the right tree to be the focus point.
Raid
Does it qualify as landscape?
Why not? I like it.
I would crop the left 25% and get closer to the rails.
Make me actually "feel" winter.
Raid
Let's get going here ... before this thread is outdated.
Raid
Gabriel M.A.
08-11-2006, 18:42
Here is my image; it is about sea oats at sunrise time during a hazy summer morning.
Interesting crop -- and I mean interesting in a positive way, not in the usual way it's been used to say "hmmm". I'm not quite sure of the entirely dark third bottom, so if it's cropped a little bit more so that there isn't that much dark space; if enough is cropped to make this a square crop, that would perhaps make it even more balanced. That's my opinion, I'm not much in the know of landscapes, to be honest.
I like how the sun's disk is half in the frame; conveys the sense of sunset, reaffirming what one feels from the sillouette and the semi-golden pinkish tones of the clouds. It's all as if you're peeking from below, getting ready to go to sleep.
Gabriel M.A.
08-11-2006, 18:47
"The Golden Gate", 50/2 coll. Summicron
Roland.
I think pretty much everything has been said that I would have said; very nice mood and light captured here. There's a nice diagonal across the frame, and the rule of thirds can be seen applied from various points of view (two from the Bridge as a reference, the cliff, etc.) Well seen and well exposed.
If anybody were to be an incorregible nitpicker, they'd probably complain about the tree profile on the top left corner. Not I.
Gabriel M.A.
08-11-2006, 18:57
American Basin
I'm seeing two photos here. One is the full-frame you're showing, and the other is the top half, beginning from either just below or just above the exposed rock.
The vastness of the scene is well conveyed here, and the greens, blue and gray dominating it are coming across well. I see the zig-zag drawn in the middle, and you worked that into the photograph, that was good. Yet I wonder if the crop I mention in the beginning would make this a stronger photograph, where then the mountains and sky dominate, making them even more majestic, rather than the green drawing much of the energy on the photo. But that's what I see, perhaps not what you had in mind.
As a graphic display of grandure, I think that's been communicated to me, at least, and in that it has succeeded. Also knowing that a folder camera was used to compose this, this is an even bigger accomplishment, at least in my eyes.
Gabriel M.A.
08-11-2006, 19:05
Lake Como, New Jersey
Here I can see that the shadow (i.e. "dark" areas) is the biggest intended player, of course, and it is used with great effect. The main horizon, splitting the frame in half, yet another major line as if ripping the scene down from left to bottom right, in an energy countered by the light of the sun hidden from the blanket of clouds and the front tree.
The sky from the left top corner balancing the "solid" bottom right corner does not escape me, as neither does the gradation of light to grey from left to right, as grey to dark, from top to bottom.
I like it very much, so much dynamism.
Gabriel M.A.
08-11-2006, 19:12
Does it qualify as landscape?
An urban landscape. The drawing of front to top, from right to center, and back...all that's man-made so static, cut right in the middle by people moving across.
Cold, so still and cold, yet there's life. Somewhere.
I would only suggest cropping the left edge of the frame, enough that it removes the countering fence, and the patch of dead grass/brush, so that the main flow drawn by the tracks is more uniform.
I'm confused. We're 7 now?
:)
Gabriel M.A.
08-12-2006, 04:58
I'm confused. We're 7 now?
OK, that's it, I think I'll take a few days off the critiques, something's going on with my attention span, on top of not getting the notifications (I'll check my spam filter). *AND* I missed your photo. :bang: I thought I had all my critiques in because I counted five (which doesn't make sense, because in a normal thread, it should have been four).
So here it goes...
Gabriel M.A.
08-12-2006, 05:05
Here's a b&w "landscape"
So very simple, it is understated at first. The person in the background, the traffic light in parallel, the dune cutting through the two patches of brush/grass, and the hard, solid road, perpendicular to man and man-made, in contrast to the fluid sea and sky beyond.
What can I say? Perhaps, only, I wish you had a tad bit more of road in the frame, and I'd play with the contrast. If the thin clouds in the sky could stand out a little more, this may give another impact, but I have a feeling you consciously wanted to do the opposite.
Very well done.
When would we comment on our own photos?
I think we still need Roland and jshelly to comment. :)
:)
Does it qualify as landscape?
xabi, you're going to have to join the next landscape critique when it opens. This one is full. :) Let me know if you're still interested and I'll create another thread for you.
:)
I think we still need Roland and jshelly to comment. :)
:)
Yes, I know I'm late, I apologize. I will comment tonight.
Best,
Roland.
OK Roland. We'll wait for you.
Raid
Monday: We are still waiting .......
Gabriel M.A.
08-14-2006, 07:05
Yes, I know I'm late, I apologize. I will comment tonight.
Best,
Roland.
Bump. Words added -- forum says message too short.
Roland ... where are you? Maybe something happend and he could not reach his computer.
Gabriel M.A.
08-15-2006, 09:24
Roland ... where are you? Maybe something happend and he could not reach his computer.
The Blue Screen of Death, perhaps? This reminds me of a pseudo haiku, let me see if I remember it right:
Windoze XP crashed
I am the Blue Screen of Death
No one hears your screams
Sorry guys, everything is OK. I was called on Sunday to travel to the east coast. I'm in Fishkill now (close to New York). Please be patient with me. Thanks,
Roland.
The Blue Screen of Death, perhaps? This reminds me of a pseudo haiku, let me see if I remember it right:
Windoze XP crashed
I am the Blue Screen of Death
No one hears your screams
funny! good one.
Take your time Roland. Enjoy Fishkill (?)! :)
.
This thread is dying off. How about wrapping things up?
[Roland: take your time]
Raid
My photo was taken at Pensacola Beach one summer morning. I had the intention to take a photo of a sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico, not realizing beforehand that during the summer the sun rises over the dunes and not over the water. It was a hazy morning without any colors, so I used a neutral density graduated filter to get some contrast in the sky.
Here goes (finally):
AOI Photo:
Very nice mountain landscape. This would be easily a photo that would
find a place on my office wall, say enlarged to 10x14 or more (to remind me
of the mountain hikes I did in my childhood). I like the
composition, the colors with strong contrast between green/yellow
and the blue sky, and the red flower spots in the foreground. I assume the original is
even nicer than the scan, the scan is a little out of focus and a bit blown
out wrt highlights.
Gabriel:
I like bridges; I like beer; I like blue :). Nice composition, very sharp photo
with nice shadings from dark blue to orange red, to the blue of the sky. What
caught my eye first was the red of the bridge, then the reflection, then
the pink, reddish stripe of the second bridge in the background. Last I
noticed the faint pink clouds in the sky.
JShelly:
I like the motive and the different shades of grey in the picture, and the
strange silouhette of the tree; also the triangle of the lake, how it opens
from left to right. What bothers me a bit is that the horizon is
a bit too much in the center, and that much of the foreground is black.
Would be perfect if the horizon would be a bit deeper, with less black
foreground and more sky. Maybe a crop as in the attached proposal, or more sky
if the original is higher.
Raid:
I like this, Raid. I assume this is a Tele landscape. I like the focus
on the grass, and the sun being out of focus. Also find the square format
nice, and original that the sun is only partially in the frame. You have
a real good feeling for colours, IMO (I always thought so when looking
at other pictures that you have posted).
Ray:
Hmm, I know this spot well, had to stop there quite frequently.
The picture somehow resonates with my feelings that I remember
having at this light: always curious about the beach, the dunes and
the people that are there at any time of day, sometimes crossing in
front of me, but I was always bothered by the traffic light.
Nice how the person at the beach seems to observe me and functions
as a reference of scale. Strange (well-caught) symmetry
between the person, the traffic light, and the grass on top
of the hill on the right.
Xabi:
Not sure if I like it or not. I like the snow and the train tracks, then I see
the people on the tracks and want to know more about them. Cann't get more
detail from the picture though. Maybe cropping would help bringing out the
important elements (see attachment) ? Not sure.
Thanks all (also for your patience),
Roland.
Here goes (finally):
...
Ray:
Hmm, I know this spot well, had to stop there quite frequently.
The picture somehow resonates with my feelings that I remember
having at this light: always curious about the beach, the dunes and
the people that are there at any time of day, sometimes crossing in
front of me, but I was always bothered by the traffic light.
Nice how the person at the beach seems to observe me and functions
as a reference of scale. Strange (well-caught) symmetry
between the person, the traffic light, and the grass on top
of the hill on the right.
Xabi:
...
Roland.
a lot of people are bothered by those series of traffic lights. There was a time when there were NO traffic lights on that stretch of highway, but obviously the place became a raceway/dragstrip (nobody could cross safely!). With the beach there and the sand getting blown onto the road it wasn't safe. Actually if you start at one end and go ~35 mph (tough on your bike, I know! ;) ) you'll catch every green light from Sloat to the park.
:)
Roland:
Thanks. Actually, this photo was taken with a normal lens and I got close to the sea oats to get away from the overwhelming haze and low contrst scene. I tried to make the sea oats that main object and I managed to barely squeeze in the sun on the right. Fujichrome film with a graduated ND filter helped me get some colors.
Raid
"I like this, Raid. I assume this is a Tele landscape. I like the focus
on the grass, and the sun being out of focus. Also find the square format
nice, and original that the sun is only partially in the frame. You have
a real good feeling for colours, IMO (I always thought so when looking
at other pictures that you have posted).
"
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