Bryce/Zion Critique Thread

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Comments

  • FlyingginaFlyinggina Registered Users Posts: 2,639 Major grins
    edited May 23, 2006
    Hi Greaper. The colors are perfect and the smoothing of the water just right. Like Ginger, I like seeing the sand under the water but I get the point made by those wanting you to crop it out. To my eye there is too much sand in the picture. Have you tried simply cropping something off of the right hand side and maybe just a bit off the bottom? That would leave the best of the rippling sand but allow the viewer's eye to focus on the rocks and flowing water. I think that the problem people may be having is that, as is, the photograph is really two pictures: one of the rocks and the other of the sand and it is hard to decide where to look.

    Virginia
    _______________________________________________
    "A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know." Diane Arbus

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  • gluwatergluwater Registered Users Posts: 3,599 Major grins
    edited May 24, 2006
    Flyinggina wrote:
    Hi Greaper. The colors are perfect and the smoothing of the water just right. Like Ginger, I like seeing the sand under the water but I get the point made by those wanting you to crop it out. To my eye there is too much sand in the picture. Have you tried simply cropping something off of the right hand side and maybe just a bit off the bottom? That would leave the best of the rippling sand but allow the viewer's eye to focus on the rocks and flowing water. I think that the problem people may be having is that, as is, the photograph is really two pictures: one of the rocks and the other of the sand and it is hard to decide where to look.

    Virginia

    Very well put Virginia
    Nick
    SmugMug Technical Account Manager
    Travel = good. Woo, shooting!
    nickwphoto
  • ginger_55ginger_55 Registered Users Posts: 8,416 Major grins
    edited May 24, 2006
    Flyinggina wrote:
    Thanks for the comments, Ginger. I have taken out the tree and darkened the sky but left the moon where it was. My fault really. I could have moved and had it further away from the mountain. I thought I wanted it where it was and I was just plain wrong. Oh well. It makes a nice print and a good memory. And (always trying to see the bright side) I learned from my composition mistake. Here is the revised version.

    Virginia

    You may like it better like this after awhile. Everyone else would/will put their moon over a bit.........yours is yours. And it has its own attraction: kind of hide and seek moon, to me. A little mystery or drama there.

    That is just my opinion! Photos often do that, you think you made a mistake, and eventually you thank the elves who made you do it, and your favorite photo goes to pieces while your "mistake" gains favor.

    Guess I should go to bed, smile. But, true, perfect photos are made all the time. It is the ''different" ones that often stand out.

    ginger

    Am I crazy or are some of the rocks blown........all over these forums. I am not going to check them out, the lighting must have been very difficult.

    Plus, I like the little shadow that is angled on the moon. That alone makes it stand out from the rocks.
    After all is said and done, it is the sweet tea.
  • DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited May 24, 2006
    aero-nut wrote:
    Ok, here is one that I managed to get finished...

    71069871-Ti.jpg


    Kendall,

    I think you have better. I find my eye wandering over a pleasant picture, but with nothing to really grab it.
    Moderator Emeritus
    Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
  • aero-nutaero-nut Registered Users Posts: 693 Major grins
    edited May 24, 2006
    DavidTO wrote:
    Kendall,

    I think you have better. I find my eye wandering over a pleasant picture, but with nothing to really grab it.

    David,

    Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm still looking for the one that really "pops".
  • FlyingginaFlyinggina Registered Users Posts: 2,639 Major grins
    edited May 24, 2006
    ginger_55 wrote:
    ginger

    Am I crazy or are some of the rocks blown........all over these forums. I am not going to check them out, the lighting must have been very difficult.
    quote]

    Ginger - You would not believe how tough taking photos at Zion turned out to be -- at least for some of us. Because we were in a canyon and the sun seemed never to hit everything at the same time, the contrast was almost always really, really high with dark, dark shadows and incredibly bright rocks. Since almost everyone was working in RAW, the properly exposed photos can be worked up in post to bring out detail in the shadows as well as in the brightly lit rocks. I haven't checked myself, but I suspect that what you are seeing is not actually blow out. Just very bright spots. I know in my moon picture, there is lots of detail in the bright areas.

    This landscape photography stuff is not easy. I came away from the trip (which I thorougly enjoyed) daunted by what it takes to do a good job. Boy, do I have a lot to learn!!

    Virginia

    P.S. Thanks for the comments. You cheered me up. :):
    _______________________________________________
    "A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know." Diane Arbus

    Email
  • ginger_55ginger_55 Registered Users Posts: 8,416 Major grins
    edited May 24, 2006
    Virginia, I think you picked a very difficult place to "learn". Like shooting birds. You can shoot a Great Blue Heron, OK, you got that exposure down, then go for Great White Egrets, got that exposure, ready for anything right??? And a Snowy Egret is another white Egret, right? No.............it is whiter than white: should be in a laundry commercial. Ratchet the exposure down PAST -1, after blowing many birds first.

    What you all didn't get the chance to do was "blow" many birds first. I would suspect that if you lived there, you might have had a better easier time. Bases on experience.

    I am seeing a lot of black and white, and I love Andy's IR, and I don't like IR, but I think that is one way of dealing with the exposure situation, smile?

    Gorgeous photos, they really are. But I am not seeing all the detail on my crummy monitor. (Then again, I am not shooting birds much right now, and I am a bit slack on the blown stuff myself..............it is the total photo that is important, IMO)

    Love them,

    ginger
    After all is said and done, it is the sweet tea.
  • DeeDee Registered Users Posts: 2,981 Major grins
    edited May 24, 2006
    Wow, very nice
    aero-nut wrote:
    Ok, here is one that I managed to get finished...

    71069871-Th.jpg

    My pet peeve when people correct stuff is "purple toned clouds" though:):
  • Mike LaneMike Lane Registered Users Posts: 7,106 Major grins
    edited May 24, 2006
    ginger_55 wrote:
    Ratchet the exposure down PAST -1, after blowing many birds first.
    lol3.giflol3.giflol3.gif
    ginger_55 wrote:
    What you all didn't get the chance to do was "blow" many birds first.
    :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

    :lol4
    Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance.

    http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
  • gluwatergluwater Registered Users Posts: 3,599 Major grins
    edited May 24, 2006
    ginger_55 wrote:
    Virginia, I think you picked a very difficult place to "learn".

    I would have to disagree with you Ginger. This was the perfect setting for learning. Going somewhere where you do not have experience but surrounding yourself with experts who can aswer your questions. That sounds like the perfect learning environment to me.
    Nick
    SmugMug Technical Account Manager
    Travel = good. Woo, shooting!
    nickwphoto
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