Posted by Marc Adamus on March 4, 2008 at 12:55 PM
Snapped this one while hiking a small, less visited canyon near Zion with Guy Tal this past October. Let me know your thoughts, particularly on the composition.
Marc, I like it a lot. The light is perfectly balanced and the stream (decorated with autumn leaves) leads my eye right to that tree balancing on the high rock. What's not to like?
My eye keeps being drawn up to the tree and the brightly lit rock beneath it, then back to the water in the foreground. I like the stream, the leaves, the color, and the detail in the rock.
I love it, Marc. Beautiful composition and lovely colors. Did you do a blend on this? Even with a 2 stop GND over the top the dynamic range would be pretty high for this scene. Just curious as I'm trying to figure out how to best photograph scenes like this around Moab.
Top seems a little soft, and the tree does look blended some. I really like the leaves scattered on this. Almost my exact composition, except I have clouds and more sky, and no fall leaves.
The polarizer helped darken things too. Even still, I did some shadow recovery in CS3 on the upper walls on either side. Guy will attest to the fact that the light conditions during these days were not normal, however. The light was very soft and filtered through dense smoke to the South, from the California fires, so I got lucky with the light. If it had been stronger it wouldn't have worked as well.
Mike, no blending or other work on the top portion. Any softness is just web-related. It's super-sharp at full res. I think the light/atmosphere conditions I described would explain what you're seeing there.
This is a tough one to judge I think. The image is very nice overall, a lot of great elements here. In particular your control of dynamic range here is top notch. I just wish there was something to balance out the mid and lower left side of the image.
At the top you have nice balance with the changing foliage and rocks, but down below there is not much for the eye to look at on the left - the leaves just aren't enough when compared to the great cascades on the right. I feel like my eye is so confined to the right side of the image until I get to the top 1/3 where it kind of opens up. What about a crop from the left side, making it more of a vertical pano? It would be a little bit out of proportion of a typical pano, but just a thought.
Also - is that a camera bag or something about half way up on the left side?
Marc, this is a very pretty canyon. I like your composition, it shows a great depth. The little stream and leaves are just lovely here. I would remove the black square that sits on the left side in the middle of the image. Also, the sky shows quite a few dust spots that could be cleaned. Otherwise, a fine photograph.
I think its a great comp, though doesnt have the impact some of your other SW shots have. It's weighted to the rhs, but if you balanced it with a vert crop, id complain about it being too 'straight-forward' So you cant win! If this were anyone elses shot id be doing cartwheels and exhausting my supply of 'Wows'. But since i hold you to a higher standard id say it lacks the depth of other shots.
I don't particularly like this image as it stands. Cropped square and keeping the bottom, it is a nice intimate landscape. Cropped vertically down the right side its an OK vertical pano, but the light at the top seems bland. Currently its off balance and the light at the top seems like a poor fit for the material at the bottom.
Marc,
I really like the composition. I think it draws the eye in a straight line down the center. The tree seems a little distracting, but the water and scattered leaves weight it back down to the bottom. The colors are fantastic!!
This turned out well, Marc. I like the wealth of leaves dotting the rocks. It's definitely better than anything I got from there but that's my usual pattern: I rarely get anything good on a first visit (the other canyon was a welcome exception). It certainly is a beautiful place though. I'll be back there this fall.
I could probably grow to like this, but I can't help feeling there are really two pictures here; one on top of the other. I think maybe the rock/tree (or the brightness of the sky) is competing with the stream to be the main subject. I really like the bottom half!! Very nice blending job, nonetheless.
Ken
Posted by David A Bliss on March 5, 2008 at 12:44 AM
Marc, you are quickly becoming one of my favorite photographers!
When I looked at this earlier today, I also thouhgt there were two comps here; the lower 2/3rds and the upper portion with the tree and sky. The upper portion competes a little too much with the lower portion (which I think is outstanding!) The values in the image are nicely held, the scatterd leaves provide a quiet energy and the cascades are very nicely done.
John
Discussion
17 replies5D, 16-35 II at 16mm, polarizer, 2-stop soft GND.
At the top you have nice balance with the changing foliage and rocks, but down below there is not much for the eye to look at on the left - the leaves just aren't enough when compared to the great cascades on the right. I feel like my eye is so confined to the right side of the image until I get to the top 1/3 where it kind of opens up. What about a crop from the left side, making it more of a vertical pano? It would be a little bit out of proportion of a typical pano, but just a thought.
Also - is that a camera bag or something about half way up on the left side?
Mel-
I really like the composition. I think it draws the eye in a straight line down the center. The tree seems a little distracting, but the water and scattered leaves weight it back down to the bottom. The colors are fantastic!!
Guy
Ken
John