Humber

Hi. I think that the most important issue of this picture is not the picture itself. The picture I see is a direct result of the decision one makes when facing a landscape. [b]''What sort of lens could best record this?''[/b] Landscapes have this appeal sometimes where we want to photograph everything or as much as we can see depending the beauty or ugliness of the space. I had seriously thought of buying a panoramic Xpan camera once upon a time. Would I have used it here? Would I need it here? Much of the interest in your black and white picture (good choice to present it that way) lies in the near elliptical patterns created in the water on the left of the frame. What is going on there? I wish my eyes could clear out better what causes theses patterns but the lens used could not get any closer. If I could crop this picture, that feature along with the shore nearby would be my main focal point, in either a square format or a 3x2 rectangular vertically or horizontally placed; Alas I would have shot it with a zoom lens and the figures would have looked bigger too. Have you been asked if you have shot this from a hot air balloon? In the current frame I see the attempt to include a dark corner in a diagonal contrast with a bright corner. I think there is more interest in the dark part so I am going to attempt a modification that cuts much of the bright part so it balances with the dark part as best as possible. Thank you for uploading this. pablophotographer

Hi.

I think that the most important issue of this picture is not the picture itself.
The picture I see is a direct result of the decision one makes when facing a landscape.
''What sort of lens could best record this?''
Landscapes have this appeal sometimes where we want to photograph everything or as much as we can see depending the beauty or ugliness of the space. I had seriously thought of buying a panoramic Xpan camera once upon a time. Would I have used it here? Would I need it here?
Much of the interest in your black and white picture (good choice to present it that way) lies in the near elliptical patterns created in the water on the left of the frame. What is going on there? I wish my eyes could clear out better what causes theses patterns but the lens used could not get any closer. If I could crop this picture, that feature along with the shore nearby would be my main focal point, in either a square format or a 3x2 rectangular vertically or horizontally placed; Alas I would have shot it with a zoom lens and the figures would have looked bigger too. Have you been asked if you have shot this from a hot air balloon?
In the current frame I see the attempt to include a dark corner in a diagonal contrast with a bright corner. I think there is more interest in the dark part so I am going to attempt a modification that cuts much of the bright part so it balances with the dark part as best as possible.

Thank you for uploading this.
pablophotographer

Yes, that's the Humber as I know it. Mud and dirty water. Not enough there for me, and not really a strong subject for a wide angle. Ideally a small group of silhouetted birds, much larger, as a prime subject with the mud and water as a foil. There's not really much there in terms of texture. Paul

Yes, that's the Humber as I know it. Mud and dirty water.

Not enough there for me, and not really a strong subject for a wide angle. Ideally a small group of silhouetted birds, much larger, as a prime subject with the mud and water as a foil. There's not really much there in terms of texture.

Paul

This is a restful scene which captures the atmosphere of the damp and muddy Humber very well and which the birds are obviously enjoying - quite a bathing party ! Pablo has given a good critique, so I have just tried a fairly drastic crop to concentrate more on the birds and upped the contrast a little to emphasise the sparkle on the water. Not meant to be better - just an alternative idea. Geoff

This is a restful scene which captures the atmosphere of the damp and muddy Humber very well and which the birds are obviously enjoying - quite a bathing party !
Pablo has given a good critique, so I have just tried a fairly drastic crop to concentrate more on the birds and upped the contrast a little to emphasise the sparkle on the water. Not meant to be better - just an alternative idea.

Geoff

Hi Pete, welcome to the Critique Gallery, I think it's your first upload here? You've been on the site for a while so I guess you know what we are about here. I had a look at your portfolio, you have a good eye for light and its effect on landscape. You also like difficult conditions - haze etc. I don't think this is one of your stronger uploads though. The subject - the waterline, ripples, birds, textures - is so distant that it needs a strong feature to make it work, and there isn't one. One further problem is the toning. You've kept it quite cool, but it still looks muddy, flat. A tighter crop might work, by giving greater importance to the diagonal. I've just noticed salopian's modification that's an improvement for me. Moira

Hi Pete, welcome to the Critique Gallery, I think it's your first upload here? You've been on the site for a while so I guess you know what we are about here.

I had a look at your portfolio, you have a good eye for light and its effect on landscape. You also like difficult conditions - haze etc. I don't think this is one of your stronger uploads though.

The subject - the waterline, ripples, birds, textures - is so distant that it needs a strong feature to make it work, and there isn't one.

One further problem is the toning. You've kept it quite cool, but it still looks muddy, flat.

A tighter crop might work, by giving greater importance to the diagonal. I've just noticed salopian's modification that's an improvement for me.
Moira

I agree with Moira. The light and textures are attractive and work well in mono, but there's no one strong element in the image that makes the viewer linger and look at, or even into, the image. Think about keeping the viewer's attentionin some way, either with a strong element or the way the image is composed (good suggestion from those in previous posts) and you're on your way. Keith

I agree with Moira.
The light and textures are attractive and work well in mono, but there's no one strong element in the image that makes the viewer linger and look at, or even into, the image.

Think about keeping the viewer's attentionin some way, either with a strong element or the way the image is composed (good suggestion from those in previous posts) and you're on your way.

Keith

This really grabbed my attention when I saw the shot. Fantastic light, and beautiful textures... But it really needs a compositional shape: either a subject, of bits and pieces that form some kind of interesting shape. I've tried a mod rotating and cropping - and this brought out a problem with quality. I am not sure if it's inherent in the picture, and it is certainly an issue with limited-size digital images and detail shots: a breakdown in quality... I've tried sharpening, but to no effect, other than sharpening the artefacts...

This really grabbed my attention when I saw the shot. Fantastic light, and beautiful textures...

But it really needs a compositional shape: either a subject, of bits and pieces that form some kind of interesting shape.

I've tried a mod rotating and cropping - and this brought out a problem with quality. I am not sure if it's inherent in the picture, and it is certainly an issue with limited-size digital images and detail shots: a breakdown in quality... I've tried sharpening, but to no effect, other than sharpening the artefacts...