A redbud in early April on a river bank in Great Smoky Mountains NP. I was on my way up the road to another destination when I came upon this lovely scene and pulled quickly off the road into a rather tight parking spot. If I stepped forward it would be one big one down a steep rocky bank. If I stepped backward it would be onto a winding park road. Not much room to work with, so okay, this would be my composition - I’ll take it!
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
Conceptual: Feedback on the message and story conveyed by the image.
Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the image.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I liked the contrast of the purply flowers against the new green leaves of spring and the rocks on the far side of the river.
Ooohh! I would take it, too! Redbuds are my nemesis. Next chance I can get at them I hope I’m together enough to try a focus stack at wide aperture for a softer BG. (Oh – and no wind, please…) But you got it all here – buds in focus and a soft and interesting BG. I love the horizontal branches against the verticla trunks – all with a dancing rhythm.
My only (very idle) thoughts are, maybe compare a tiny bit warmer WB and a gradient burn from the bottom to subdue the water. Good stop!!
I initially thought the same as Diane regarding the warner white balance, but I am starting to really like the photo’s colors as it is. I’m unsure about the river though. Its a nice anchor to the whole photo, but is also heavy and pulls the eye down away from the the star of the show, the redbud.
Love me some Redbud! This is gorgeous. I especially like the more intimate framing and the subtle horizontal lines of the redbud branches.
Color and white balance well within personal preference. I like the colors as presented, although I could see warming a couple points - but not very much!
I also am drawn to the water at the bottom and I was thinking of two alternates before reading any comments. First was a square crop of just the redbud, eliminating the bottom and a little off the right. It would be all about the tree and blossoms - but not so much about it’s environment. The second also a square crop or more towards a vertical by simply cropping some of the empty space on the right and still retaining the bottom; this actually helps give the bottom rock and water a bit more say in the overall impression. I think?
The even better news is that this works quite beautifully as you have it presented.
In my comment above I misspoke – meant a burn from the bottom to subdue the brighter rocks. I came back to enjoy this again and now think I’d crop about 1/4 off the bottom and let the lovely branches float in the frame – no base needed – the beautiful rhythm of the branches needs no obvious support.
I downloaded this so I could play around with crop using my photo viewer window and for me, I really like the water and rocks, maybe that’s because I like the sense of placement (where it’s at in the grand scheme of things).
Different strokes for different folks I guess.
Since I like the water, I do feel that the light grayish OOF part in the middle of the frame (over the water) could stand to be cloned over just to remove that bit of distraction, that’s my only suggestion.
I really like the color and saturation of the Redbuds, the contrasting colors are just wonderful in my view.
I’ve never really voiced my personal view on woodland images before now but I’m just not a big fan of them for some reason. But, when there is color like this, especially from wildflowers or fresh seasonal blooms? Yeah, love it!
Wonderful composition, lighting, clarity and focus!
I like your subject matter and the composition. The trees in the upper right are a nice sidelight. The dark bottom does attract the eye but without it the tree trunks would be noticeably be cut off and I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I don’t if it’s my monitor but I feel the image is a bit dark for the subject matter (Spring). Therefore, I would raise the white point and make color and contrast adjustments accordingly.
The more I look at this, the more I like it as is. I initially thought about a vertical crop but that downturned branch kind of wreaks havoc on that idea. Then I thought just go in tight and do square crop but again, the more I look at this the more I like it as is. I think it could use a very MINOR warming adjustment but I also really like the cool tones. I get that you had no room to work with and I can appreciate that. Great image nonetheless.
Thank you @Diane_Miller, @Youssef_Ismail, @Eva_McDermott, @Lon_Overacker, @Merv, @Igor_Doncov, @Matt_Payne, @David_Haynes, and @John_Williams, for spending time with my image and providing such helpful feedback and suggestions! I’ll definitely be playing around with some different crops, exposure, warming, and reducing distractions from the rocks and river flow at bottom to see how I may be able to improve things. I really appreciate your suggestions!
