woody water

illuvator

2

30 Apr 2012 - 10:38 AM

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nice composition but try waiting for the sun to be lower to get more contrast in the water

DRicherby

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30 Apr 2012 - 11:25 AM

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I'm somewhat reluctant to comment for fear of marital strife.

Have you asked your husband why he dislikes the shot? If his reasons are more concrete than "It's not my cup of tea", it might give you something to think about, even though you disagree. And sometimes, if you have a certain sort of personality, pushing back against criticism can help you to be more confident that you were right in the first place! A gentler version is to imagine yourself explaining to him why this is a good photograph -- thinking about that kind of thing can only help you when you next have an opportunity to take this kind of photo.

I like this kind of shot, and I like them in black and white. I like the way they bridge between representational and abstract art: it's a photo of an object you found but, at the same time, you're showing it to us (I assume) because you like the shapes and the contrast of textures. I would have taken this differently, getting down lower and using a wider aperture to let the water fade out of focus. Other people might use a strong neutral density and a long exposure to make the water look smooth and ghostly. These approaches are different but not necessarily better -- again, think about whether they would be better, in your eyes, than yours. That's win-win for you: either you like another way more or, next time you shoot one of these, you'll shoot it in a way that further emphasizes the things you like about this one. An advantage of your relatively high viewpoint and narrow aperture is that you've kept the texture of the water through the whole shot. (The high viewpoint means that the back of the shot is closer to the camera so you need less depth of field to keep everything sharp.)

One thing I would suggest is that more contrast would help. Essentially, the whole photograph is in the mid-tones, with very little in the darker or brighter tones: the histogram shows this very clearly. (If you don't know how to read a histogram, just ask -- it can be a really useful tool.) In a sense, contrast is the black-and-white equivalent of vivid colours: it adds punch to the photograph and makes it stand out. As illuvator says, shooting later in the day would have helped that, by lengthening the shadows.

Five-word summary: increase contrast and think lots.

Dave.

paulbroad

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1 May 2012 - 7:37 AM

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Sorry - I'm with your husband. Can't really see the point of the composition and all the grey tones are so similar giving a very flat effect. Would work better with a more angular composition and some dramatic lighting to give impact and contrast.

(Just shows how subjective images are.)

Paul