Critique Required Welcoming the Storm

Thanks! Now, interestingly, the hue in the sky wasn't on my list of doubts about these images... yet now you mention it, yes I suppose it is a bit. I think to me, it just seems darker than would be natural. But an excellent point, and I'm glad you brought it up.

Both these recent posts of mine do have a bit more manipulation of hues and colours than I normally do, partly as I'm trying to familiarise myself with the new color equalizer module in darktable 4.7... so it may be a case of over enthusiasm for a new toy! 😄
 
I can maybe see a very slight mauve/blue cast in the skies of these images, but then, cloudy skies often do. Getting used to new tools does take a while. I'm probably being a little nit-picky, as I love 'em, particularly the one above😃
 
@Stevenson Gawen I saw that you posted a "playraw" in the Pixls forum with a photo from the series. I downloaded the DNG and couldn't reproduce your excellent editing (but didn't take a look at the accompanying XMP file). Overall, a really nice photo, very well developed. Only the sky looks strange to me, but of course the sky is also subject to creative interpretation.
 
Gianluca Drago said:
@Stevenson Gawen I saw that you posted a "playraw" in the Pixls forum with a photo from the series. I downloaded the DNG and couldn't reproduce your excellent editing (but didn't take a look at the accompanying XMP file). Overall, a really nice photo, very well developed. Only the sky looks strange to me, but of course the sky is also subject to creative interpretation.
Click to expand...
Thanks Gianluca. :) Yes, I actually considered linking that here, just in case anyone wanted to play with the file. Here it is: https://discuss.pixls.us/t/thistles-live-here/42689
It was interesting light that afternoon, but I do sometimes find that what I think is good during editing doesn't look right a week later when I come back to it, so feedback is very valuable.

Unrelated point of interest;
In that linked thread, you might notice that some versions posted from other software (RawTherapee and ART) have a kind of coloured vignetting - that's actually caused by the lens and/or sensor in the phone.
The DNG files have a 'gainmap' embedded which is basically a flat field correction, or in effect, an adjustment layer tailored by the manufacturer to correct that.
Darktable applies that automatically, (in fact I'm not sure if one can disable it) so the file looks quite nice right form the start. RawTherapee doesn't - you have to enable it under something like flat field settings, and several participants in that thread didn't do so, with the results one can see.
I actually added vignetting in my version... 😄
 
Much better! I didn’t think the colours were adding much to the drama, the story, and if they are not contributing, why have them there at all? To my eyes, this b&w version is more compelling, with no distractions.
 
I'm kind of torn as to which I prefer. I do like the b+w version as it separates the main 'characters' a bit better from the background, but the amazing cloud structure loses some of it's drama, looking less ominous set against the pale foreground. It's all personal taste at the end of the day, I guess. Either way, it's a cracking shot.
 
Wow, "Critique Required"...this will be tough, since I like the image. I see where you are going with the colour choices. The sky colour isn't natural, but it's effective. My only real criticism is that the left and right side trees are close to the edges and serve as a bit of a distraction. My eye doesn't want to go to the central tree as much as it should.

A side note to those that visit https://discuss.pixls.us/t/thistles-live-here/42689. If you choose to join and post an edit, you should use an open source editor for your contribution. It's a great community that is committed to open source photography software, and as a result it doesn't welcome edits done with proprietary software.
 
Gord Tomlin said:
Wow, "Critique Required"...this will be tough, since I like the image. I see where you are going with the colour choices. The sky colour isn't natural, but it's effective. My only real criticism is that the left and right side trees are close to the edges and serve as a bit of a distraction. My eye doesn't want to go to the central tree as much as it should.

A side note to those that visit https://discuss.pixls.us/t/thistles-live-here/42689. If you choose to join and post an edit, you should use an open source editor for your contribution. It's a great community that is committed to open source photography software, and as a result it doesn't welcome edits done with proprietary software.
Click to expand...

I agree with @Gord Tomlin, Pixls is a nice place to learn and teach (with the limitation of being devoted to open source software).

About the left and right side trees: I see from the comments that for someone they represent a problem. I strongly disagree, for me they are the secondary actors which act as the main actor's sidekick, without them the scene would become less meaningful and more bare. If we really want to find a flaw in the composition, I would have cut off a small slice of the frame to the right so that the central tree (eucalyptus?) would be in the middle.

EDIT: Incidentally, I got myself voluntarily banned from Pixls because I argued with some very zealous site administrators. To this day I don't know if it was my fault or theirs.
 
Last edited:
The additional trees add to the story of the scene, like some sort dramatic scene. The righthand character seems to be in some sort of anxious dialogue with the protagonist, the crowd on the left looking on. The shape of moody cloud-forms echoing that of the main tree (no I've not been smoking anything😏). I'm with Rob regarding the off-centred-ness. I think it works, here, with the other elements.
 
I can see your quandary, Stevenson. For me, the object is not to produce something that perfectly fits all the ‘rules’ of perspective or some other underpinning of beauty. It’s not about making pretty pictures that are pleasing to the eye. It’s about saying something. I think you intuitively got it right first time, in the moment. There’s an improvised ‘of the moment’ quality to it which is part of the story. It’s almost like looking at wildlife in an African plain. There’s a danger to it.

Ralph’s reading of the protagonist and onlookers chimes exactly with what I was seeing, and initially the colours somehow diminished the immediacy of that. In b&w we see the story unfold more clearly. Yes, it definitely has a sense of danger, enhanced by nothing quite fitting into what photography books and bloggers insist you need to do for successful photography. There’s a time and a place for all that, but not out in the wilds! 😊

Relax. It’s a great shot!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Rob MacKillop
Is this taking people portraits too far?
Replies
14
Views
323
Beth Carter
Beth Carter
Rob MacKillop
Farmtrack
2
Replies
20
Views
572
Brian Moore
Brian Moore
Stevenson Gawen
Parliament House, Canberra
Replies
10
Views
231
Ivar Dahl-Larsen
Ivar Dahl-Larsen
Gianluca Drago
The staircase that leads you down into darkness
Replies
3
Views
170
Gianluca Drago
Gianluca Drago
Ralph Turner
In the company of a Rebel.
2
Replies
27
Views
539
Ralph Turner
Ralph Turner
Back
Top