Minimalist Landscape - Comments & Critiques Appreciated

Brendan · January 15, 2009

I made this photograph for my 365 Project, but actually happen to like it a bit. I would love some feedback on the idea, whether you think it works, what could be done to improve the composition, processing, etc. Just so you know where I'm coming from, I tend to aim for photographs that are worth printing (maybe even selling) and really appreciate good feedback, so if you have some harsh yet constructive comments, they would be much appreciated, and will help me improve as a photographer.

Thanks!

—Brendan

Qarik · January 15, 2009

redx for me

Brendan · January 15, 2009

Qarik wrote:

redx for me

Hmm... Maybe this has something to do with my Smugmug gallery settings...

I shall try to fix it.

Edit: Does that help?

—Brendan

schmoo · January 15, 2009

Photo appearing for me, and I like it! Minimalist is great, and the b/w treatment suits it very well. I really love the horizontal bands that are occurring in here.

Actually, the more I look at it the more I like it. Very, very cool shot!

BTW I see that you're a part of the Flickr 365 pool. Since your account is on Smug I thought I'd throw forth the Daily Photos community that we have there, too.

chrismoore · January 15, 2009

I can appreciate the photo as an abstract/minimalist work, and I really like the lines and the texture they present. My problem is that I find my eyes wandering around the photo looking for a subject ,which maybe in the end is what you were aiming for.

System · January 16, 2009

minimalism
yes i agree with the fact that there is no subject, every seems to float, nothing is catching really my eyes. we could say why did you shooted that and not the zone 50 meters on the left/right. following that the framing seems to be very artificial

but I like it; it is quiet and yes, minimalist

. I like the bands and the black to white movement.

my mind is vanishing

so it works

Brendan · January 16, 2009

schmoo wrote:

Photo appearing for me, and I like it! Minimalist is great, and the b/w treatment suits it very well. I really love the horizontal bands that are occurring in here.

Actually, the more I look at it the more I like it. Very, very cool shot!

BTW I see that you're a part of the Flickr 365 pool. Since your account is on Smug I thought I'd throw forth the Daily Photos community that we have there, too.

schmoo, thanks for the link. I will have to check it out and figure out how dgrin and smugmug work together as a community. I'm sure it's there, but it's a bit less intuitive than flickr in that regard.

Thanks for your comments on the photograph as well, and I'm glad you like it.

Thanks to chrismore and respawn as well -- will respond to your helpful posts when I have a moment.

—Brendan

Brendan · January 17, 2009

chrismoore wrote:

I can appreciate the photo as an abstract/minimalist work, and I really like the lines and the texture they present. My problem is that I find my eyes wandering around the photo looking for a subject ,which maybe in the end is what you were aiming for.

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your comments. I agree with you about the lack of a subject. I was hoping that the three small elements forming a triangle in the middle would be enough to sort of hold your attention, yet still allow it to flow towards the ripples in the water (the real subject). I do appreciate your comment that it doesn't really work for you. Perhaps a stronger subject would help 'anchor' the photograph. Something to try next time!

Thanks for your comments,
—Brendan

shniks · January 19, 2009

Biarien wrote:

I made this photograph for my 365 Project, but actually happen to like it a bit. I would love some feedback on the idea, whether you think it works, what could be done to improve the composition, processing, etc. Just so you know where I'm coming from, I tend to aim for photographs that are worth printing (maybe even selling) and really appreciate good feedback, so if you have some harsh yet constructive comments, they would be much appreciated, and will help me improve as a photographer.

Thanks!

—Brendan

Brendan- I really like this shot. Love how simple it is. My only critique would be to try and bring down the highlights a bit on the top right. Otherwise I think it's a great image.

Cheers,

Brendan · January 19, 2009

respawn wrote:

yes i agree with the fact that there is no subject, every seems to float, nothing is catching really my eyes. we could say why did you shooted that and not the zone 50 meters on the left/right. following that the framing seems to be very artificial

but I like it; it is quiet and yes, minimalist . I like the bands and the black to white movement.

my mind is vanishing so it works

Sorry it's taken me so long to have a bit more time. As I mentioned, I chose this framing for the center 'subjects', though perhaps this was not enough. There were also large clumps of rocks to either side that I did not like the look of in the final photograph. Your final comment about your mind vanishing is a bit what I was going for, and I think larger rocks taking up 1/8 of the frame or so would have detracted from that.

shniks wrote:

Brendan- I really like this shot. Love how simple it is. My only critique would be to try and bring down the highlights a bit on the top right. Otherwise I think it's a great image.

Thanks -- I was going for a higher contrast to help give it some 'pop' despite the lack of subject, but I will reprocess it and see if a gentler treatment of the highlights helps.

—Brendan