The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I was photographing in the early morning before sunrise. There are canyon winds that blow down the canyon until the sun comes up and warms the air, reversing the direction of the wind. I felt some frustration at being unable to create an image with leaves in sharp focus, but then it dawned on me that I could use the blurring of the leaves to communicate a sense of movement, especially when other elements of the image (the canyon walls, the tree trunks) were either in sharp focus or show minimal movement.
Specific Feedback
Wondering if I pulled it off, and how well the composition works. Is it a compelling image, or does it just look messy?
I like this quite a lot. As the saying goes, if life gives you lemons… make lemonade! So when the wind is blowing… go with it. I like how actually took advantage of the conditions rather than move on or try something else. The blowing leaves do give a sense of motion and I think this works well for that message.
Not much you could do, but would have been nice if the leaves in the upper left, UL, were just as blurry as the ones at the bottom. Guess you can’t have everything!
No suggestions really. the dead twigs on the right are a little blue, but that’s all subjective anyway.
I do think the motion of the leaves does give this an abstract quality, although it’s no secret what we’re looking at.
Nice concept and framing of the broken section in the cliff. One bit looks like a salmon leaping to me and so this is a bit riverine in feel - as if we’re looking down into water. The moving branches convey a sense of this, but alas it feels accidental instead of on purpose. One of my attempts at something like this came off similarly because I couldn’t be bothered to attach a neutral density filter to get a long enough exposure. My attempt had the same patchy movement in the leaves and seemed haphazard to me. So I learned a lesson and you’ve given me a kick in the pants to go try it again when we have leaves back on the trees.That’s not to say this has no appeal - the color contrast is really nice and I like how the red leaf color is picked up in the wall, too. Good creativity on display that just needed a full follow-through to have maximum effect. Hope this didn’t come off as too negative, I really didn’t mean it that way and hopefully we both have better luck with these in future!
Hi Paul, sounds like some tough shooting conditions. I commend you for making the most of it. What you attempted is what is known as a reverse ICM. Your camera stays still but the subject moves. In this case the leaves moved during your long exposure. I do wish the top branch had some motion in it but I realize not everything lines up how we wish sometimes.
Did you consider shooting the leaves with a higher shutter speed at a higher ISO? Then you could mask in the leaves with the background. Just an idea for next time in the field.
First I commend you in going with the ‘flow’ - the wind in this case - when you don’t seem to be able to get everything still. That being said, one option would be to make several images and see if you could blend them to get all the leaves moving, since you had challenges in getting that in one frame. That takes work at the computer, and may not be your cup of tea, however. A solid ND filter would slow things way down, but then the leaves that are moving wildly would become too blurred, just to get the ones that weren’t moving much to show some blur! That’s why I thought maybe several exposures during the bursts of wind might be a solution, and masking them together in the computer. Good try and keep trying - because we never know what the wind might do FOR us, instead of against us!
Paul, I think this works well with its mix of moving and sharp leaves set against the rock wall behind. I suggest trying two things (to see if you like them). Some burning-in of the lighter part of the wall to the left of center and a modest reduction in the blue. Both of those may let the leaves stand out a bit more. Overall, I like the moodiness that you’ve got here and realize that the bluish background may be an important part of that.
