Glowing Tufts

Shawn, it's clear from your portfolio and from your 'favorites' selections that landscapes are not a special interest of yours. One you selected is gimmicky (shot on an angle). Another could have been better composed and the light is awful.

 

The backlighting on the foreground element in Eric's image is not at all typical of landscape photos on photo.net.

 

Shoot light.

IMO light is a secondary element, supporting the subject unless light clearly is the subject. Here is the light the subject or is the grass the subject? I don't think it is defined enough to be the interaction, so what is the subject? Unclear subjectmatter is a pretty basic critique.

 

I don't much care about the technical originality, I think we can all agree that the technique is only the tool to get across the message.

 

You are free to critique my work. You can even critique my opinions. But using my work to discredit my opinions isn't very tasteful and is off topic.

I'd have to say that at its core, and by definition, the subject of all photography is light (try taking a photo in it's complete abscence). I think that's especially true in this image. It's that moment when the scene was lit in the way it was (and the fleeting nature of that light) that I think was the photographer's intended subject matter.

Shawn, I didn't critique your pictures, I critiqued you choices of landscape shots in your favorites. I also didn't say that light was the subject, but rather was used in such a way to set this image appart from most landscape images on this site.

 

This landscape composition is unusual in that it does have a subject (nearest clump of grass) whereas many landscapes, even good ones, do not have a single element within the scene that we are drawn to.

Well well. Where has all this taken us? Eric you have deservedly received good wishes for

this POW recognition and of course for your OTHER work.

I wonder if you would turn this around a bit and discuss/critique the image yourself. In

light of your knowledge of the area/possibilities and what you were aiming for. Always

interesting to hear your take on this image 'chosen by others'.

Thanks again folks.

 

Louis - As I mentioned before this image is part of an ongoing project. As such, I tend to evaluate it in the context of the fluid and evolving goals for this project.

 

Within this project I?m striving for a sense of mystery, confusion, vastness, barrenness and solitude - perhaps even loneliness; for beauty in unconventional places. In addition, a ?tight? and formal graphic design that incorporates all elements is important to me. The organization of the elements in to the overall design tends to be more important to me than the actual elements themselves.

 

I?m reasonably satisfied with the overall design of this photograph ? the pattern formed by the grass is balanced by the sun and clouds. The grass itself, while beautiful (especially so with the backlighting I think) isn?t all that interesting to me. I?m more interested in the pattern and the way the pattern leads the viewer to the horizon. The spacing and uniformity of the grass is somewhat unusual ? especially with the way it more or less extends to the horizon.

 

Several people noted a certain alien character and some confusion ? this is a good thing as far as I?m concerned.

 

Still, for me, this image ends up being too literal: it is too obviously a photograph of back-lit grass at the edge of the day. The beauty is quite conventional and striking ? so much so that I think it actually overpowers the potential alien character. I don?t think it?s a ?bad? photograph - it just doesn?t meet my current goals as well as some of my other photographs. Marc mentioned the possibility of overcast or more dramatic conditions. I think this would probably be better (and are conditions I favour at any rate) ? but I still think the grass would be a little too easy to figure out.

 

Thanks,

Eric