Peace

[daredevil123]

1. in what area is critique to be sought?

I am seeking input on composition especially but will also welcome critiques in all areas, including techniques. This is an experimental photo for me and I would like input if this works or not. Also please comment if the foreground work or not? I had to do some exposure dodge and burn to bring it up.

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?

I intended this piece to be more abstract than landscape. The first impression I hope the view can get is to see something that is unfamiliar at first glance and draw them to pay more attention to see what the picture really is. Hopefully, this can create a certain emotion in them. The emotion can be what they associate the picture with in their minds. If a viewer ponder or take a second look, I would think my aim is achieved in this shot.

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
It is taken right very early in the morning before the sun rises. Taken at Upper Pierce Reservoir. The place was so quiet and peaceful with no others around. The air was cool. In the horizon, there is this distant orange glow against the horizon casting a perfect mirror image on the water. In that state of mind and emotion, I took this picture.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture.

This is a really experimental shot for me. I like the colors, and the simplicity of the picture. What do you think?

Thank you all for your comments in advance!

 

[daredevil123]

Comments anyone? Or you can just tell me what you feel when you saw this. That will be good input for me too. Thanks!

 

[Henessy]

i dun feel peace, i felt as if something is bothering me.

 

[Complex13717421]

I'm not sure what i want to look at, the rocks in the foreground, or the light in the background.


If i imagine the image to be cropped landscape, it's still too warm to be peaceful? My personal opinion is that it's more peaceful in the dead of the night than at the break of day (since i have so much crap to do after i get up hohoho).

 

[daredevil123]

Thank you all for the feedback

 

[CKCHNG]

If you are going for abstract, it works for me, but I do feel the rock being distracting...just my opinion.

 

[daredevil123]

I do have another shot which is in landscape with more natural colors and omits the rocks.

That is why I opted to do something more dramatically different in the abstract direction.

Thanks for the feedback CKCHNG.

 

[jtsky]

Hi, I like ur second version, better demonstration of peace, it will be better if the horizon is not centre.

 

[daredevil123]

Hi, I like ur second version, better demonstration of peace, it will be better if the horizon is not centre.

Thanks for the feedback jtsky. I will take note of that next time.

 

[TimJupHahn]

agree. second one looks nicer.

for the first picture, i was wondering how it would look if you cover the rocks with black. and then cropping picture to a neater ratio.

my two cents

 

[daredevil123]

Thanks for the feedback TimJupHahn.

Now I already know this experiment failed.

Thank you all again bros for the feedback.

 

[Moruzawa]

Any idea why motivational posters always have the pictures in landscape mode? Our eyes are meant to view things in landscape, that's why we don't see any vertical tvs or monitors.. My point is, this picture being in portrait mode and titled 'Peace' really doesn't work out. The 2nd picture is better, but always remember the 1/3 rule.

 

[TimJupHahn]

Any idea why motivational posters always have the pictures in landscape mode? Our eyes are meant to view things in landscape, that's why we don't see any vertical tvs or monitors.. My point is, this picture being in portrait mode and titled 'Peace' really doesn't work out. The 2nd picture is better, but always remember the 1/3 rule.

Learn something new everyday!

 

[dw8888]

Moreover the color of the burning rock don't really look that peace to me. too contrast and harsh.

 

[night86mare]

answer your questions in turn first, before general critique in separate post.

1. foreground doesn't work for me. why? because it is just a layer, to me, if you just do a reflection shot it will be better. the best type of foreground is not one that is just placed there for the sake of "having foreground". remember, you always have an option to not have a foreground and do simple reflections alone. best if you can find a strong anchor element; even better if it contributes to the picture by providing lead-in line, etc.

2. what do you mean by "more abstract than landscape"?

the problem with the image is that it is much too contrasty, the cast is dominant and yellow, i don't know if that goes with what you seek to achieve, i.e. peaceful feeling. pastel, light tones, these sing peace. yellow and harsh contrast, that cannot work hand in hand with a peaceful feel.

 

[night86mare]

just taking the picture by itself, no intentions and all that taken into consideration, at this time, it is best to go closer up.

why? because there is so much black cutting across the frame. nothing wrong with that, but the flow of the picture is interrupted.

also, i mentioned earlier that i don't like the foreground, for reasons given above. the dominant yellow/red cast can work sometimes, but while it works for the background, it doesn't quite work for the foreground. perhaps a better compromise can be achieved, but i would really just exclude the foreground.

i think i mentioned before in your landscapes thread that i would like to see a longer focal length here, just the power generator twin shafts and the stars. that would probably work better, as least from what i can see in the picture. maybe there is something else, a better foreground element though.

 

[daredevil123]

Thank you all for your feedback and advice. I've learnt a lot here.

Yes night86mare bro. I did this as an experiment. The foreground seems to nag at me at the back of my head. And yes, I should have zoomed in. Thanks for your feedback and support all these time bro. Thanks.

 

[marcwang]

FIrst thing I noticed is... this guy has hot pixels in his sensor ! THe specks of lights in the sky was distracting for me.

Next surprise was, there was a foreground, Interesting though.
I think the addition of the foreground made it different.

However, my suggestion is, if you want foreground in this shot, have less sky in the picture as it competes with it. Crop away 40% of the sky, and see how you like it.

 

[ruffgaws]

i like what you managed to capture in your shot, but because of the colours, its not quite peaceful to me.

 

[night86mare]

FIrst thing I noticed is... this guy has hot pixels in his sensor ! THe specks of lights in the sky was distracting for me.

those are stars.

hot pixels tend not to have reflections.. :sweat: