Specific Feedback Requested
I’d like to know if the image is too “high-key” and lacking in depth/impact.
3 Likes
Hi Alan! I really love the feel of this image, and I don’t think it’s too high-key at all. You should have a look at William Neill’s “Whispers of Light” series - he goes even brighter than this! On the processing front, my only issue is that the darker reds feel unnaturally dark and saturated compared to the tree trunks, which was easily fixed by dodging them up with white (I selected a red color range and then selected the darks within that range).
I think the overall balance here is pretty good at first glance, but I get a bit hung up on those left trees being so dynamic and leaning/pointing to the left, pushing me toward that edge of the frame, while the right one stands straight and feels like it’s not “going with the flow”. There is also quite a bit of space between it and the dynamic duo, which makes the two halves feel a bit disconnected - almost like the meat of the image is on the left side and then the right is tacked on.
This led me to experiment with various crops, eventually settling on a square, but something still felt off - and then I tried mirroring it horizontally and it felt better to me. I think that’s just a consequence of how we read left to right in western culture - perhaps someone in the east would see it the opposite way. On that note, the high key look and the particular subject remind me of some Japanese art I’ve seen, very cool!
I hope this is helpful!
Mirrored crop idea attached, along with lightened dark reds:
I love the elegant simplicity here! I also felt the limbs on the left were pulling me out of the image, and I felt the grouping of plums (?) in the center needed more attention. I also like the gesture of the group just right of center, reaching for the bare tree. I did a simple gradient from the left, angling up a bit, and lightened things with a curve. Then also brushed in some of the lightening on the right for subtle balance. Might have gone further…
I actually think Diane’s idea about lightening the edges of the image really helps with the balance issues I saw! I no longer feel like I’m led out of the frame, and all three trees feel like they work together better. Thanks Diane, wish I’d thought of that! This could also work in combination with a crop.
Thank you so much, Alex! Such excellent suggestions from you and Diane. Cheers, Alan
Thanks Diane! I really appreciate that you took the time to look and give useful feedback. Regards, Alan
Alan,
Wow, this is a dream image! I mean one that I wish was mine! These are conditions that are a gold mine when we come upon these and youv’e done a wonderful job capturing and presenting. Love this image.
Now, coming in after comments and suggestions have been made is better than having a back seat driver - I get to take advantage on what’s been suggested already and just build on it.
So I think, NO this is not too high key at all. Alex is spot on here. And I agree the tree in the LL, with the branches the balance is being pulled away from the center of the image. It’s not a huge deal, but I think we’re talking about how to take a fantastic image and elevating it to an even higher level. So, I like where Diane went as well with an effort to help keep the eye back in the frame.
Building on that, I’ll add my own twist. While I don’t live by rules and guidelines, I many that do guide me. One of them goes like this: “If you’re going to cut something off, do it on purpose.” here, we have a mix of branches - some going off the edge, like the bottom and left, but the right and top are free from anything breaching the edge. And since it would be impractical to free the bottom and left from all the branches breaching the edge, why not crop even more and get the top and right to also have the branches reach the edge. - Doing so on purpose, so to speak.
I also used a lightening technique mostly inthe LLC like what Diane was suggesting. Then finally, if going high - key, go for it. I brightened a teanie bit further. OH, and I also dropped the saturation of the bulbs, fruit, leaves, whatever those are. It think the original the color was a little strong and unnatural. This my back seat effort:
2 Likes
I agree. This high key looks very haiku.
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This is a beautiful image Alan, and I agree with the others that it’s not too high-key of an image. I love the softness, and I bet this would look beautiful when printed on very high-quality paper. Before reading through the critiques by other members, my initial thought was to crop a bit of the top and let the trees continue into the imagination, and when I saw the rendition Lon presented, it’s very much what I had in mind. Those branches reaching toward the top of the frame attract a lot of attention away from the rest of the composition, and cropping a bit off the top helps to calm the image. Excellent work!
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Lon, I really like this fill the frame idea, especially with the other changes. I have nothing to add, but @alan19 I just wanted to chime in to say how exquisite this is!
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Thanks for the thoughtful and kind feedback, Lon. I used to think that a subject needs to have some breathing space around it, but I agree that a tighter crop would be more effective for intimate scenes like this.
Cheers,
Alan
Thank you, Ben. I really appreciate that you took the time to consider the image and provide constructive comments on it. Cheers, Alan
Thanks Jack!
Thank you all for the positive comments and suggestions. I like the image because I think that it captures the ethos of Japan, where I took it. That said, I felt there was something off-kilter about the shot, but I wasn’t sure what. Your feedback has really helped! Cheers, Alan
I absolutely love this image. I agree with Alex on the left leaning aspect as being a bit of a distraction but it’s not terrible. It would also be a pretty easy fix in post, if you wanted to. It would be kind of cool if the left tree was straight like the one on the right, haha. Great image!