iancoxleigh

Recently re-edited to remove some haloing and to pull back the purples

a bit.

 

All comments welcome.

Golden late day light reflects off of the steep rock sides of

Horseshoe Lake in Jasper NP, Alberta, as seen from the shadows of the

opposing shore.

 

All comments welcome.

Nice shot! I haven't seen this composition before and I find it very effective. The light on the peak is also effective at drawing my eye back into the scene.

Wow! This is exemplary. The light models the forms of the peak so wonderfully – beautifully handles exposure and contrast.

 

I might consider pushing the upper right sky even darker.

Exceptionally beautiful and calming. The small crescent moon puts this over the top.

 

The pebbles seem a little soft/un-sharp. But, I think just a bit of extra output sharpening would solve that perception (unless they really are soft in the original of course).

The austerity of the IR effect works very well here given the barren landscape and remarkable and resilient tree with its wind-sculpted form.

 

Nicely achieved.

Very nice Mike. I like how the ripples in the sand seem to intertwine with and/or reflect the roots of the trees. The soft fall-off is very pleasing and works with the softness of the colour palette here.

 

I'm a little less sure about the motion-blurred leaves in the trees., but, they don't actually bother me at this size, just catch my eye.

 

I like how your images seem to capture a very special moment when light and colour and natural forces all aligned to perfection – and yet they also manage to seem timeless and enduring.

 

Lastly, there are two very large OOF dust spots/rings in this image. Probably worth cloning out. (see attached)

 

 

Alright, reflection darkened, overall exposure bumped 1/6 stop.

 

I think it is a slight improvement.

Raymond, thanks!

 

Carsten, you're correct. This was filtered with a 3-stop hard grad (if memory serves). In fact, it was over-filtered and I have lightened the sky a fair bit in post-production.

 

Paying attention to the alpenglow on the peaks, I was fairly content that I had balanced the exposure. But, you're right. When I look at the blue of the sky, the reflection is brighter than the water. That does, indeed trouble me a little. I will work up a slightly darker reflection and post it soon.

 

 

One final set of thoughts:

 

1. "You even lowered yourself to his level by being pretty destructive towards all my images."

 

I don't think I was "destructive" towards your work. I didn't say it was bad, that it should be rounded up and burned, that anyone who enjoyed it was a fool, or any other such comment which could be considered vindictive and mean-spirited.

 

What I did say, was that your taste and my taste are clearly different. I said that I don't connect with much of your work personally due to the aesthetic choices of presentation you make. However, surely this is the case with anyone's work. I am under no misconception that my own work doesn't alienate an equal or greater share of viewers.

 

I did note that your style seems to work for a lot of other people given your ratings and comments here on PN. Moreover, the fact that your images have a shared aesthetic is a great thing – it clearly shows that you do have a style. It is better to have a style than not to have one, and it is rather inconsequential that it doesn't work for me.

 

I also noted that to my eye, and with regards to my experiences (which you rightly point out do not include the Australia landscape – but, do include a number of Australia photographers' works), your images often push what I would consider 'natural-looking'. I did also make it clear that 'natural-looking' was not necessarily a goal that I, personally, cared much about, but, rather, that I was more interested in the emotional response to the landscape and how the stylistic choices in the image worked to either further that emotional response or to hamper it.

 

Now, you might ask, why would I bother to comment at all then, given my above stated feelings. Well, I appreciate it when people comment on my work and let me know they just don't "get it" for some reason or another (and say the reason). It helps me know who is likely to be in my audience and who isn't and allows me to be conscious of whom I am excluding or including in that potential audience when I make artistic choices. I feel it better to be aware of the consequences of my choices and for whom they will work or not, than to be blindly hopeful for a good response from a given audience for a given style.

 

2. "I really don't understand how some people's egos are so huge that they feel that their opinion is IT."

 

I hope that was directed at David, because I certainly don't think my opinion is IT.

 

Quite frankly, I think there might be more of an audience and more appreciation for "the CGI, Disney, better than life, super saturated look" than for a more tame naturalistic approach in the manner of David Ward, or Joe Cornish.

 

Quite frankly, I even find a lot of Galen Rowell's work (and maybe even some of my own at the moment) too far down the "better than life, super saturated" slope and Rowell is held as an icon by so many.

 

Heck, I find some of David's images (often, his most successful) too far along the "better than life, super saturated" road.

 

Thanks for your time and patience.

 

Yours,

 

Ian

 

 

 

Ah, how foolish of me! The red is a must then.

 

Tasmania is definitely on my short list of places to see sooner rather than later.

 

I assume you've seen some of Kah Kit Yoong's images here on PN. His whole portfolio from Tasmania is rather stunning. Worth a gander.

 

I don't think that anyone was insinuating that "a computer did all the work". Whether a photographer does the work in camera or afterward seems inconsequential to me – it is still all in the artist's discretion.

There's nothing inherently better about effects achieved during exposure compared with those achieved later.

And, I think you missed my point. It is not important (to me) whether these colours are natural or not. They don't work for me here. They don't work for me because they conflict with the other effects this photo has on me emotionally. Even if it was making the image less natural, I would have desaturated the rocks.

I like this shot in all regards too.

 

I think Gary might have a point though. This would probably have more impact a little more tightly framed. I'd try a 4x5 cropping in from the right to remove the darkest areas.

 

The water flow off of the main rock is a love central focus.

This is another shot that I feel is among your best. I love the way the misty/smokey air and the low-contrast feeling it creates is echoed by your choice of a long, long shutter speed and the subsequent blurring of the wave action into an ethereal form.

I thought I would post on a few of your images that work for me. This is one of them. I might try to de-emphasize the lichen a little. I like it as an element, but with the intensity it has here – maybe both less saturation and reduced luminosity of the oranges.

 

What I like most is that I find the colours here (other than the very, very intense lichen) to work with the mood created by the smooth water, moonrise(set?), and earth shadow. The composition is effective too, with the tree on the left balancing the slightly right-centre placement of the moon.

 

Surprisingly, the centred foreground rock works for me more and more as I look at this.

Glen, that's not a very nice way of responding to someone who was simply trying to be helpful and offer an honest opinion.

 

Quite frankly, I don't care whether the colours are natural or not (here or anywhere else), I don't care whether an image is 'real' or PSed. I've done my share of post production work. I only care about the effect a photo has upon me. I would say, though, that my first response to this and numerous other images in your pages is that they do not look natural; nor do they look pleasing to my eye.

 

For my sake, I agree with David's assessment: this was a better image in its 'RAW' state as you posted it. I find the colours off-putting and too dominant in your submitted image – especially given the emotional feeling of the rest of the scene.

 

Perhaps you shouldn't much care about my opinion, though, as our tastes are clearly quite different. There is very little in your whole portfolio to which I don't respond negatively and you seem to have plenty of people who quite appreciate your style. So, don't change for my sake.

 

Cheers and best of luck in your photography!

Thanks Everyone!

 

Gordon, I too am enamoured of images that show a transition from seeing through clear water into a full reflection.

Please view the larger size. All comments welcome.

Very nice! I love the cloud-like appearance of the surf. The very unsaturated appearance of the water really causes the rocks to pop out.

 

What do you think of this without the horizon (cropped in the grey area)?

Good but not great. This is not up to the standards of your other recent images.

 

I find the vignette heavy and not useful in the composition. The foreground was probably the best you could manage as there isn't much to work with on the site, but it lets you down in the end. Plus, I find the mid-ground (the hills themselves) look a little low in contrast and don't really grab your eye. The distant hills catching the light seem more engaging.

 

As I said, you've posted some really strong images lately: build upon them. This is decent in all respects; but nothing stands out as particularly strong.

 

I hope this is taken as the constructive and encouraging comment it is intended to be. I realize I've been a bit harsh by PN standards.

 

 

I know what you mean about applying a split tone. It does indeed help give a bit of life – sort of like increasing the contrast without actually doing so.

 

Brooks is also the editor of Lenswork Magazine. If you aren't familiar with the publication, you should check it out. Unfortunately it is only available directly these days (he decided that the environmental waste of newsstand display wasn't worth the returns). Excellent, absolutely excellent, print quality of some fairly well selected and presented BW portfolios. One of the only photographic publications that I can wholeheartedly recommend.

The strong geometrical lines of the man-made fences are such a lovely foil to the whimsically leaning tree. The absence of a background makes this especially effective.

 

Great work.

Beautiful! The light on the foreground rocks is wonderful and I like the warm colours throughout and, especially, in the sky.

An interesting shot of Skogafoss. I'm not so sure about cropping right at the top of the falls like you have – I almost prefer it cropped a little bit further in (just a tiny bit) so that I don't see the curving line of the top and expect to see the fullness of the rim. Otherwise, this is very nice image. I especially like the bit of whitewater in the foreground.

This should work. I like each component here independently – the grass texture is nice and I like the colour of the blades, the end of the log is well caught and the lines of the trees and clouds form a nice background. But, somehow the image as a whole just doesn't hold my attention or draw me into the scene. I do find the whole image a touch dark and maybe a little low in contrast as well. Maybe pushing those a little would pull me in a touch more?