Deadvlei - First light

In my humble opinion as a novice photographer this photo is all about the juxtaposition of brilliant colors and lines (which give a feeling of euphoria) versus the desolate feeling of the space. In the original crop one can feel and taste the quite, the lack of movement. The second crop, the suggested crop, to me, takes away from that feeling of desolation and loneliness. Great photograph overall.

 

I am missing the sharpness flaws (novice eye). Could you please point them to me?

 

Many Thanks,

 

Mohammad

Very well composed image with strong solid colours: i find that texture of the tree (and of the sand) is poor. I think that cropping could not

improve the impact of this nice image. Regards.

I find the cropped image by David R. to lack something and have studied it for quite a while this morning. I believe the main difficulties to be A. we loose the framing top--bottom which really is an integral part of the whole piece of art, and B. it centers the subject too much to keep my interest. Nah, I think the original is head and shoulders above the altered one.

 

Willie the Cropper

This is a background dominated photo. The thing I don't like about the original is that the dark slice of sand overpowers the lighter slice of sand coming from the right. They basically meet in the middle, which causes my eye to get stuck there and competes with the tree. There is something lacking in the original--too much unbalanced darkness hanging off to the left.

 

Just to be really annoying here's the slightly tighter crop. Let the cries of too centered begin...

the other crop

I really like this photo. I only see one small flaw in composition and that is the lighter ridge that is visible just above where the tree splits. A step forward or a lower camera angle could have fixed it. Maybe even more of a view of it, but the little bit isn't to my taste. Other than that, excellent image and composition.

 

Crops - IMHO the suggested crops take it from being a landscape photo to a photo of a tree. This changes the purpose of the photo.

 

JPG Artifacts - I think what Ken wrote about is that the low quality of the JPG makes the edges of the really light and dark zones have excessive pixelation. Along the tree, top ridge and sky, light ridge and background ridge. They look artificial/model-like.

I don't see that little bright area in the V of the tree as a defect. It's a feature that enhances the abstract

look of the tree. That's an interesting comment on this being a landscape versus a photo of a tree. I see this

as a detail all the way, but can appreciate your point. Extra breathing room does give a greater sense of place.

This shot is a fine example of what makes Dionys Moser the best landscaper that PN has to offer. He possesses a vision and perspicacity which is rare amongst photographers here, and this landscape in every detail seems a fine testament to that. IMHO the composition he chose here is perfect, and I strongly doubt if Mr. Moser is selling prints of this image with any sharpening artifacts in evidence. This POW honor is well-deserved, Dionys - it is long overdue.

Wow. How is one going to top this?? Super simple with superb lines and color.Wish it were mine.

Looks like a painting. Excellent colors

This reminds me strongly of the movie 'The Cell'. Fantastic!

I could look at this photo for some time, resting my eyes on it. The composition is simple, straight, clean and open. I like this concept. I wouldn't change anything. It gives the strong balance and beauty.

7/7.

I like very much your shot. A very good composition of graphic and chromatic elements. Congratulations!

 

I think if we could see this image in a 24x36 print all the negative critiques so far would go out the window. As Ken mentioned, this is a 38kb file.... literally no information. A far cry from a 100MB 16bit color managed Tiff file. I have no doubt there is plenty of detail in the tree and the sand that is invisible here due to compression artifacts and the small size.

 

Aside from all that, perfect combination of perfect composition, contrast, color and geometry. All you croppers out there completely missed the mark on this one. It's perfect as it is. Every other crop on here strikes me as poorly thought out, and each one detracts something significantly important from the photo.

 

Great work Dionys! A fantastic image.

It is very difficult to evaluate this photo at this resolution. The impact is strong, but one wants immediately to see it a bit closer to see some detail, perhaps even to confirm that it is an actual photo. I am aware of the dangers of having it pirated at larger sizes, but it simply loses a lot of punch as posted.

 

All that said, it is still a powerful work that does provide an immediate jolt upon viewing. The colors and forms are very strong, and the overall composition is excellent. The tree looks a bit artificial--a bit too neat and clean--but so does the entire photo. Again, one wants to affirm the strength of the composition and the brilliance of the colors, but, without more detail, one cannot quite give it the accolades that it quite likely deserves.

 

--Lannie

just amazing... !!!

First I thank all of you for the engagement in critiques.

 

I can assure, that I have all the photos in a very high resolution.

For me photo.net is not the place like a Louvre, where you can see

the original in oil. It is a wonderful international platformin,

where everybody can get ideas in photography.

Like the most of you, it is also for me a pleasure to show the own photos

to a critique public.

But I�m absolutely not interested in seeing my photos,

stolen by ignorant people in websites of Korea, Arabia, Africa a.s.o.

as I did many times in the past.

That�s why the resolution is low.

What I put here, is �the stamp of the original�.

And for thouse who still doubt, the very original ist still the best: the natur!

Thank you for understanding, I�m sure you catch what I mean.

Dionys

Diony's I have seen your work for years now!!! What a well deserving honor again!!! Your work is outstanding...here is another example of your skills!!!. Your natural approach and your way of staying far from excessive manipulations are just admirable in today's digital world. And the places you bring in photos from are amazing.... thank you for sharing your experience in the medium we all love. I love the elements here.... lines and contrast and light...perfect picture!! regards, Rajeev.

I love the timing. You've captured the sunlight at just the right time. I would love to see a video of the light moving across this subject, but that's a different forum

I find the stark contrast of the shadows a bit distracting, and I would have like to seen more of the foreground being that there's so much texture in the baked earth. The post processing of this photo does not do the image justice, and detracts from the photo. With that said, this is a very nice photo indeed, and I only hope to be able to experience such wonders with my own eyes.

good composition! light is wonderful. although i think it looks classic, it keeps me looking! Congratulations..

just incredible light.

I think we consider this image first as a graphic, and that means that every detail should read well, and needless complications should be avoided. That means the bright spot in the fork of the tree, the dark sand in the crotch of the limb above it, and the branch parallel with and touching the horizon line of the dark sand. There is also the textured patch just above the bright point of that sweeping curve of sand. This kind of work is usually the result of studying the image in the viewfinder, making small shifts in viewpoint, and studying the image again, and here the light was changing swiftly.

I like the simplicity. I like the fact that there's only a handful of colors, but each of the colors in that handful is bold and stark. I like the original composition better than the crops further down, because the original looks like a scene from a widescreen movie. Centering the tree doesn't make it any better.

Sharp, emotional, interesting