Posted by Jeff Deaton on March 27, 2009 at 11:22 PM
Stumbled upon this while scouting for shots for the 8x10 late afternoon today. The geology west of Castle Rock (ex. Castlewood Canyon, Mesa open space, etc) is really interesting with all the "rocks". I did end up burning a sheet of Provia on this so hopefully that turns out "okay".
Cheers,
-Jeff
Posted by Nat Coalson on March 28, 2009 at 1:41 AM
Jeff - I can totally see what you're going for here, and the comp is obviously carefully done. I do like how the "islands" push up out of the "sea" (or maybe high clouds, from an airplane?). Some nice visual plays here. Love the shadows from the grass; lots of interesting detail.
But I have to say that--for me--this doesn't work, mainly for the simple reason that it looks like anything I might see walking around anywhere there's snow. The apparent height, perspective and lighting really don't reveal anything extraordinary. It doesn't take me anywhere I haven't already been.
The direction of light and the white snow draws the eye to the top right, where there is no real "reward". The interesting details of the grass, rocks and shadows are overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of the somewhat-underexposed snow, which also looks to me to be slightly out of focus towards the top of the frame.
With some clever cropping, dodging and burning and color-tinting effects this might be made into more than what the straight capture presents. In the future I'd say "work it more"... in the field, in the computer or both.
I like the idea; it's the execution that leaves me wanting more. I hope this is helpful...
Posted by Grant Collier on March 28, 2009 at 7:06 PM
I agree with Nat here. I think this can be the danger of shooting 8x10. At $15 a shot, you don't have many chances to get great images and may want to like a shot just because it cost a lot. This is why I probably wouldn't be good with an 8x10...usually I only get the shots I really like after working the scene for a while. If you have a digital camera, I'd take a lot of shots with digital and then only shoot 8x10 when you get a digital shot you really like. I think shooting lots of digital can help the learning curve and let you recognize when the light and composition come together for a great shot worthy of burning an 8x10 (and I believe all photographers, no matter how good, still have a learning curve).
Discussion
2 repliesCheers,
-Jeff
But I have to say that--for me--this doesn't work, mainly for the simple reason that it looks like anything I might see walking around anywhere there's snow. The apparent height, perspective and lighting really don't reveal anything extraordinary. It doesn't take me anywhere I haven't already been.
The direction of light and the white snow draws the eye to the top right, where there is no real "reward". The interesting details of the grass, rocks and shadows are overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of the somewhat-underexposed snow, which also looks to me to be slightly out of focus towards the top of the frame.
With some clever cropping, dodging and burning and color-tinting effects this might be made into more than what the straight capture presents. In the future I'd say "work it more"... in the field, in the computer or both.
I like the idea; it's the execution that leaves me wanting more. I hope this is helpful...