Posted by Cezar Mart on August 17, 2007 at 1:54 AM
This one was made during last winter. I don't have many pictures made recently, so inspired by Jeremy's idea it is a good opportunity to dig in the archived pictures I never published here.
Nikon D50 and Nikkor 18-200 VR.
Posted by Inge Johnsson on August 17, 2007 at 3:10 AM
Is this an HDR or a combination of two different images (sky and trees). It looks cool and interesting but also quite a bit "unnatural" since the sky and tree exposures are so different.
Posted by Mike Stovall on August 17, 2007 at 3:28 AM
Cezar, this is a pretty scene, but the dark blue portions of the cloud in the UR corner are distracting. What makes it so to my mind is that it took me a while to figure out if they are shadows/thick parts within the cloud or breaks in the cloud showing background stuff through it. If they were grey, it would settle the question for me.
Posted by Cezar Mart on August 17, 2007 at 4:07 AM
This is NOT any kind of HDR. Never did any HDR and so far I am not very attracted to it. The exposure is natural and the image is natural. There is practically no post-processing. The cloud is dark because it was dark in the first place. This is why I shot it - the dark cloud.
The purpose of the image was drama. The drama, because the drama is what I was looking for. This was supposed to be an action shot.
If I wanted to shoot a serene image I would not capture the cloud, but maybe a blue sky with some heart-warming quotation of peace and happiness. However, I am not really interested in lullaby and serene pictures. What I am really looking for in the landscape photography is drama created by contrasts. This is what I am trying to learn.
Now the distracting cloud. I will explain: the cloud IS supposed to be distracting. In fact, I want the cloud to be the main focus of the picture. It is the cloud that is supposed to be the theme of the image and it is the cloud that is supposed to grab the attention. So if the cloud is really grabbing the attention - as Mike suggests - that means that I accomplished my goal in this picture.
Probably more experienced photographers will have different opinions about it's message, and it looks that indeed the mood I was hoping to create is really not clear enough. This is why I am learning and learning and learning. It is not easy, believe me....
Posted by Sean Watson on August 17, 2007 at 12:29 PM
Nice job at capturing detail in what's obviously a very high-contrast situation. I can imagine this took careful timing and quick metering.
I really like how the backlit tree (2nd from the left -- kinda leaning into the leftmost tree) looks.
I think what Mike was talking about being distracting are the subtle blue splotches in the cloud on the far left rather than the cloud as a whole. I hardly noticed them until he mentioned them, but it's interesting to see what caught his eye.
There really are few interesting juxtaposed opposites here. There's the obvious light/dark contrast, but there's also a nice difference between the softness of the clouds and the angular form of the trees. Lastly, there's some tension between the openness of the subjects (clouds, hills in the background) and the crampedness of the frame (top of the leftmost tree cut off, just a little slice of the FG showing).
I know what you mean about how frustrating it is when our photographs aren't interpreted the way we intended. To be fair though, you didn't give us much of a hint in your initial introduction. Even with outstanding photographs, I bet it's rare that two viewers get the same impression without at least a little bit of a caption.
Sean
Posted by Ned Fenimore on August 17, 2007 at 1:42 PM
As presented appears a powerful interpretation..
Posted by Mike Stovall on August 17, 2007 at 5:43 PM
Cezar, it is dramatic--the dark blue tones in the cloud were just throwing me off of being able to compose a visual schema of the image (and I'm probably the only one who had that problem). The trees are pretty (not superficial pretty, but graceful pretty), while the cloud is dramatic and powerful. It's an intriguing study in contrast between grace and power. Keep 'em coming!
The contrast between the llc and ruc is a bit of a shock. Otherwise, there sure is a lot of drama here, thanks mostly to the sky.
Posted by Hans Hibbard on August 18, 2007 at 12:57 PM
As a guy who spends a ridiculous amount of time in the mountains during the winter I can really appreciate this shot Cezar. I've seen things like this and I think you've represented it well. It's not often that you get such contrast of a dark, dark, cloud in conditions like this but it happens and is pretty cool.
Usually, I associate these conditions with a storm breaking rather than coming. Do you remember which was the case?
Posted by Cezar Mart on August 18, 2007 at 2:31 PM
> Usually, I associate these conditions with a storm breaking rather than coming. Do you remember which was the case?
As far as I remember it was just a dark cloud, coming and going and coming again. The weather was gorgeous, the clouds and views abundant...
Discussion
9 repliesNikon D50 and Nikkor 18-200 VR.
The purpose of the image was drama. The drama, because the drama is what I was looking for. This was supposed to be an action shot.
If I wanted to shoot a serene image I would not capture the cloud, but maybe a blue sky with some heart-warming quotation of peace and happiness. However, I am not really interested in lullaby and serene pictures. What I am really looking for in the landscape photography is drama created by contrasts. This is what I am trying to learn.
Now the distracting cloud. I will explain: the cloud IS supposed to be distracting. In fact, I want the cloud to be the main focus of the picture. It is the cloud that is supposed to be the theme of the image and it is the cloud that is supposed to grab the attention. So if the cloud is really grabbing the attention - as Mike suggests - that means that I accomplished my goal in this picture.
Probably more experienced photographers will have different opinions about it's message, and it looks that indeed the mood I was hoping to create is really not clear enough. This is why I am learning and learning and learning. It is not easy, believe me....
I really like how the backlit tree (2nd from the left -- kinda leaning into the leftmost tree) looks.
I think what Mike was talking about being distracting are the subtle blue splotches in the cloud on the far left rather than the cloud as a whole. I hardly noticed them until he mentioned them, but it's interesting to see what caught his eye.
There really are few interesting juxtaposed opposites here. There's the obvious light/dark contrast, but there's also a nice difference between the softness of the clouds and the angular form of the trees. Lastly, there's some tension between the openness of the subjects (clouds, hills in the background) and the crampedness of the frame (top of the leftmost tree cut off, just a little slice of the FG showing).
I know what you mean about how frustrating it is when our photographs aren't interpreted the way we intended. To be fair though, you didn't give us much of a hint in your initial introduction. Even with outstanding photographs, I bet it's rare that two viewers get the same impression without at least a little bit of a caption.
Sean
Usually, I associate these conditions with a storm breaking rather than coming. Do you remember which was the case?
As far as I remember it was just a dark cloud, coming and going and coming again. The weather was gorgeous, the clouds and views abundant...