Loch Vale

Hi Moishe,

Don't feel outclassed--you posted an image for critiquing and the viewers of your image will provide you with some helpful guidance for improving your work. Also, provide details of your camera and lens settings and any post processing that you did on your photo. Please feel free to make comments on other photographers images. Critiques are always welcomed by other photographers on NPN.

The image looks reasonably sharp with a centered composition. I like the overall feel of the image and the scene is very nice. There's a strong blue cast to the shadowed portion of the snow which can be corrected to a certain extent. Some blue is good for telling us how cold it was on that day. You might be able to selectively brighten the conifers and reduce the blue tint a bit too. I would also crop from the right-side to move Jed closer to the right hand side of the image. The asymmetry of his position and vertical format enhances the size of the mountain in the background. Play around with this image and see where it takes you. These are my suggestions and hopefully others will provide additional comments on your photo. Thank you for posting ..............................Jim

Welcome to NPN, Moishe.
Jim made some great suggestions particularly with cropping from the right side. That would eliminate some of the brightest white in the scene and some distracting rocks. I'd also consider a crop from the bottom to make the footprints less noticeable. I really like the silhouetted trees on the left side.

I like the image a whole lot. It tells a story. I like your choice of square formatting. The colors are fine to me. The blue/cyan cast works great here, contrasting with the more "normal" color of the sunlit mountain area. The composition seems well balanced. If you wanted, I guess you could remove a little of the blue globally, which would then warm up the sunlit areas a bit also. But that's a personal choice.

Moishe, I'd say that for a quick shot as you describe it worked quite well! You appear to have used a long focal length, which compresses the perspective to good effect. Some suggestions: (1) the trees are too dark, you might want to try to bring out some detail in them (2) The snow looks too blue, perhaps you need to work on the white balance and (3) I would crop a bit off the bottom. I hope this helps!

On a different note, I also joined very recently and am happy and impressed with the level of congeniality and helpfulness in NPN - I hope it will work out for you too!!

I agree with the comments made by Jim. It also may have been nice to move to the left a bit to get your friend off center. Keep posting. You will like it.

Thanks so much for all the feedback, it's a huge help!

I tried reducing the blue tint, which warms the mountains. Also took advice re: cropping -- totally agreed that removing brightest white on right side help and makes for a more interesting composition. Edited image is attached.

Technical details: Fuji X100s, 35mm equivalent lens (23mm on APS sensor), 1/80th at f16 and ISO 200.

Again, thanks so much! So cool to get real feedback and not just "likes"

Oh, also: I'd already selectively lightened the trees quite a bit (in the original they're basically all shadow). I don't think I've got enough range to get 'em any brighter without making it obvious that I've done so.

Welcome to NPN. I prefer the original presentation which captures that man versus the mountain feel best. A terrific first post.

I want to add my welcome to NPN. I have been to Lock Vale a couple to times, but never in the winter, a neat place. There have already been some good and varied comments made. I like the processing of the second image and agree with the crop. I think I would have left just a little more on the bottom and a touch more on the right. It tells a story very nicely.

A majestic scene for sure and your re-post addresses most of the issues. Great job for a quick shot and most worthy of an NPN first post. Hope to see and hear lots more from you.