anish

Beautiful work, Andrew. The repeating pattern formed by the rippled water and rocks creates nice depth and really leads the viewer in. The low angle perspective really works well here. The haze seen along the furthest peaks hints at the great distance, and the glowing moon is the perfect finishing touch. There does appear to be a slight CW tilt, though, but that's an easy fix.

 

Anish

Marc,

 

This is the first image you've posted in a long time that I didn't recognize as being yours until I saw your name next to it. Is it just coincidence, or was there some conscious effort to go for a different look? Not that your images are repetitive by any means, but I just didn't see your "signature" on this one like I usually can when I see a new Marc Adamus image.

 

My only critique here is with regards to the sky. One thing you do as well as or better than anyone is include clouds in your landscapes that not only add color and drama to your images, but also contribute significantly to the compositional flow of the image by really connenting the sky with the land. In this case, while the clouds add color and mood, the flow and pattern of the clouds is somewhat random and IMO do not help the composition - at least not to your standards.

 

I do like the processing here. One thing you've gotten really good at is including just the right amount of detail in predominantly dark areas. While dark areas in photographs tend to get muddy, yours always have perfect clarity.

Another beauty, Mark. Great layers and depth. You're really in tune with the central CA landscape, and it shows in a lot of your work. Keep it up.

Hey Mark. I haven't stopped by your portfolio in a while. This one is a beauty. The filtered light creates a wonderful mood which you've captured very well in this photograph. I'm normally not a big fan of man made elements in a landscape photo, but I think the fence works really well here. Great work.

This is one of the more interesting dune images I've seen in a while. Inclusion of the rocks both along the foreground and the background really conveys the sense of distance in between. The composition is very well balanced and the colors look great. Really good job.

Thanks for the comments, guys. Regarding contrast, that's definitely an area where there's room for interpretation. This was taken late evening, so the contrasts in the scene were rather muted, but I agree some localized adjustments could be worth trying.

 

Regarding space up top, I avoided that only because I was working with a flat, featureless sky. If there were some clouds, it would be a different story altogether, but here, I felt a prominent flat sky would throw the composition's balance off since there's so much going on below. My general approach to composition is to identify all the key elements I want in the scene and place them so as to achieve the best overall balance, letting the horizon fall where it may.

 

I find that adhering to any rule about where to place the horizon doesn't always lead to the best possible composition.

 

Thanks, again. -Anish

I've seen a lot of images looking at these falls from the other direction, but not from this perspective, so it's nice to see a different take. I think the square format works well here.

I don't agree that an image needs to utilyze the entire range of tones across the histogram. It should contain only the tones that it needs, and I think this image would lose its meaning if it were exposed any higher. This is a beautiful interpretation and portrays the subject well.

 

Anish

Taken this past weekend above Lake Sabrina in the Eastern Sierra.

Thanks for looking...

Those are some great looking clouds, but the colors look way off. I would work with the color balance until you can achieve more natural tones, then I think you'll have a nice image here.

I like the composition, but I find the colors to be a little washed out. Being familiar with this subject, I would expect stronger reds. Underexposing slightly and bumping the saturation might help here.

This is a very nice composition, David. I wonder if you could brighten the dune highlights a little? The shadows look about right, and I think brightening the sunlit areas would help in creating a little more contrast. Aside from that, the hot spot at the upper right corner is slightly distracting. I might suggest burning that a little. All in all, beautiful image.

Thank you all for taking the time to look and comment! -Anish

Taken on a backpack trip last weekend. Thanks for looking.

I absolutely love this crop! Just perfect. -Anish

Nice concept and composition! My only issue is with the bottom 1/4 of the image. I feel it doesn't add anything and there are some distracting elements such as the large shadow area and the lone yellow flower at the very edge of the frame. I've posted a crop suggestion removing the lower section as well as a little off the sides, with the goal of focusing on and highlighting the image's strengths. Hopefully it illustrates what i'm trying to convey.

 

Anish

Such a beautiful image. If anything, I'd suggest a little dodging around the mountaintops to hide the grad transition. Otherwise, this is outstanding.

 

Anish

Thanks for the info, Mark. Very natural and pleasing result...

 

Anish

This one has beautiful balance and flow. Everything in the composition holds together so nicely, and the color rendition is perfect. My question is, how did yo get the foliage in the trees to come through so clearly against the sky? Did you have to do a lot of dodging? Did a polarizer help? Thanks in advance for your insights.

 

Anish

Thanks to everyone for the feedback! -Anish

I liked the converging lines here and the depth created by the fog. Does

this image have enough interest, or is it just too simple? Thanks for

viewing.

Thanks, John. This was a tough one to process. There is a lot going on with minimal contrast so it was tough to keep it from becoming muddy. A little burning of the shadows around the middleground trees really helped give them separation from the background, as you noticed.

 

Anish

Thanks for the feedback. Ian and Walter, I had the same thought process when taking the picture and did include the base of the small tree. But in doing so, I caught a snow patch at the base of the left-hand tree which I felt distracted from the composition, and thus I cropped it out. Attached is a variation including the base of the small tree. What do you think? Does the snow on the left tree distract? Thanks.

A foggy afternoon among the Giant Sequoias. Thanks for viewing.

Thanks for the comments. Mark - yes, this is a few miles into the park coming in from Three Rivers. This was taken just this past Saturday. This same area looked quite flat in terms of colors after things cleared up the next day. That is a redbud on the left and I played with some different versions to bring out the contrast and saturation, but in the end I liked this version as it is truest to the actual scene, and retains the mystery evoked by the fog. Regarding the tree position, there were distractions on either side, so this was really my only option. I'll be posting more from this trip...