Original
With dodging the eyes
Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This image was taken in Bryce Canyon on my recent trip a few weeks ago. Snow had fallen overnight on top of the nearly 5 feet of snow that was already on the ground ad the feeling I had that morning was one of serenity and quiet. Then these two Ravens flew in and landed close enough to me that I could grab a decent shot with my 100-400mm lens. They sat there admiring and playing with each other for a couple of minutes before flying off.
Specific Feedback
Does the framing/composition work for you? This is a pretty significant crop. I was trying to eliminate as many distractions as I could But the right edge of the image has some dark spots, particularly in the URC and the right edge of the frame in the center where you see those dark spots. DO they pull your eye?
Anything else that could make this better?
Technical Details
Z9, 100-400mm lens @ 285mm, ISO 1250, 1/100th, f/8, Manual Mode, Hand Held. I wanted to keep a lot of the landscape in this shot which is why I didn’t go to 400mm but in the end I would up cropping away a lot of the frame. I had very little shutter speed so going to 400mm would have made for a difficult image at 1/100 of a second, hand held.
1 Like
Really like the setting and you’ve probably made a good choice in your crop showing enough of the environment, while still highlighting the birds. Good interaction shot as well. I’d say this was a good example of the rule of thirds with a leading line.
I really like the setting and composition as well as the interaction of the Ravens, David. I don’t know if it can be done, but the eyes are completely invisible and it looks as if some of the blacks are blocked up in the ravens. If you could bring them up just a little bit it might give some detail in the faces. I tend to like my black birds blacker than most people, but it’s nice to be able to make out the eye.
Hi David, I really like the story conveyed in this image. The crop works well for me. Nicley composed - the dark spots on the right just seem like naturally part of the environment and don’t really draw my eye. I see Dennis’ point about the eyes but it looks like recovery on those would be really tough. Even that being the case, this is an intriguing image with strong impact.
This such a telling image and the combination of birds, red rocks and snow is unbeatable ! Well done, Hans
Thanks very much for your comments and suggestions on this image @Allen_Brooks , @Dennis_Plank , @Allen_Sparks , @Hans_Overduin. I reworked the image but recovery of the eyes was pretty difficult. I’ll post it for comparison but it’s not a whole lot different. Let me know if it’s any better. I also did a little bit of dodging on the dark spots along the right edge. again, not sure if that helped or not.
Thanks again for the advice and critiques. They are always super helpful.
Hi David. Well, dodging the eyes didn’t do much, though I can make out the eye a bit on the right hand bird. The dodging on the edge made a difference to my eye even though it didn’t bother me in the original.
