cfreemanphotography

This is an old photo, taken back in high school during one of our snow days.

Nice! I particularly like the illuminated portion of the cloud directly over the waterfall. Really ties earth and sky together. Only thing I'm not sure on is the tone of that mountain.... it seems like it should either be burned or the sky dodged. Just seems a little HDR-esque (which I know it isn't).

Brilliant! I would love to see this against a dark background (as in page color) or in print!

Yeah, I was kind of up in the air about that. You're right, it definitely does pull the eye down. Maybe I'll make re-processing it my treat to myself if I finish my reading tonight.

 

Cheers

Chris

Comments/Critiques welcome :-)

Just messing around. Let me know what you think.

Please feel free to leave any comments or critiques. As of this

posting, ratings will no longer be accepted.

Your response to John's post raised a question for me: Should images be processed for ideal viewing against a light background or a dark background?

Chris,

I think I'm going to post for critique only, since people can judge for themselves whether or not a photo is a good one and since it is the critiques that are actually worth paying attention to.

Comments and Critiques welcome.

No no, I know you didn't do anything to the painting. When I first saw the image I thought it looked sort of like my picture. I sat there thinking, what the hell did he do to my pic? And then I read what you wrote and realized that it was actually a painting.

Normally I would have carried a tripod with me, but weight was a major concern on this trip and I was hiking with a bunch of non-photographers who needed me to carry crew gear too.

I agree that the subject does get a little lost. I was unable to find a good spot where I could have a little less chaos, and thus opted to use partially selective focus to improves matters a bit. Another way of looking at it, which occurred to me when trying to find a name for it, was that all of the other plant life in the frame is younger, smaller, and less hardy. The moss clings to the tree much like a child to its parent. At any rate, I'm glad to hear that you liked it.

If you want to let her have a go at it, be my guest. I've never had one of my photos painted before.

Thanks for the comment. That is an interesting painting, and at first I had been wondering if you had done something weird in PS to the picture. I'm not so sure that the focus was off as there being some camera shake. On this particular trip, I was not able to carry a tripod, so this was handheld during partially overcast conditions.

..... actually have no clue how the hell I did it. The exposure was at 1/25th of a second and, naturally, I ended up sort of jabbing the release. Even with VR, I was surprised. This would be a fun location to return to with a full array of gear.

Thanks for commenting!

Chris

Comments and Critiques welcome. If anyone could tell me why the colors

are not showing up the same on photo.net as they are in CS#, that

would be great. The color space is sRGB with all the letters and

numbers after it.

 

Raters PLEASE NOTE: Low ratings will not help me improve as a

photographer if they are not supported by a critique. If you feel that

the photo is of less than average quality (ratings below 4), please

include an explanation of why you gave the ratings you did. If you are

unable or unwilling to do this, please abstain from rating.

 

Viewers PLEASE NOTE: Look at the ratings breakdown. IF there are

unsupported threes, please disregard. These are only people who have

nothing better to do than rating bomb other people's work.

Taken on the last day of a 2 week trek in New Mexico, this is my first

ever shot of a lightning strike. Because I did not have a tripod at my

disposal, I had to handhold and release the shutter when I saw a

strike. Can you say lightning fast reflexes? :P

 

RATERS PLEASE NOTE: I have no problem with low ratings IF you support

it. Giving a photo a 3 and not giving an explanation will not help me

grow as a photographer. If you are unable or unwilling to support your

ratings, please abstain from doing so.

Marc,

I totally agree with you on your interpretation of the scene, but it did raise one question in my head: Did the original file resemble more closely the posted version, or the edited version posted by John? Was the color cast something you had to introduce to successfully convey the emotional qualities of tranquil dawn, or were these colors literally displayed and captured. Either way, a stunning image, but I am curious as to the answer, as I sometimes wonder if my own pictures could be more appealing if my eye for post processing were more refined.

If you are going to give the photo a three, please either provide an explanation or rate directly. If you honestly feel that a photo deserves a poor rating in any area, that's fine. That being said, simply seeing that I received a three will not help me improve my photography. Whereas a good rating is self explanatory, i.e. the photo is good, a poor rating means that there is something lacking in either composition or technique. If you are unable or unwilling to elaborate on low scores, please refrain from rating.

A dramatic view unfolds as the sun sets behind Cimarron's iconic Tooth

of Time pic during late evening thunderstorms.

This is an outstanding shot. In my opinion, it is the best you have posted since Song of the Tide (at least, that is your most recent one that really stands out in my mind). the composition is superb, though I don't quite understand why you have not removed that tree from the internet version if it will not appear in the matted version. Though the horizon is slightly off, I don't think that it is a necessary fix as the scene appears in harmony as is. Aside from that, the only thing that seems amiss is the dodging around the tree on the left. It seems as though it has a slight halo, probably the result of the hasty processing you mentioned in your response to Mark.

 

A few questions about the equipment and corresponding technique: Do you recall what you used for a grad for this shot?; Do you use a filter holder? (I find it difficult to handhold "P" sized grads when shooting vertically). Also, do you have any tricks on protecting square filters. I just got back from a two week trek in New Mexico where, to my dismay, a set of new Singh-Ray grads became both warped and slightly scratched (and one of them managed to work its way out of a side pocket, causing its loss somewhere on the trail).

 

Also, if it would be possible to get the lens data and EXIF.....?

Thank you Steve, though from the other ratings it seems I need to continue to work on the processing. Was there anything about the picture that you might have changed?

When the sun refused to show its face, I decided to go for a darker,

moodier image. Please provide feedback as to whether or not it works.

Also, any suggestions on possible processing changes would be great,

as my skills in photoshop are still pretty limited.

Very nice composition. It's very similar to the one by Marc Adamus, however the intensity of the waves appears to have been much greater in this shot.

I like the idea, but I'm not sure on the composition. It seems like it needs a bit more space on the bottom and a little less on the top. Also, the effects of the polarizing filter are very heavily pronounced. Some portions of the sky have been darkened more than others, a problem which can be solved by dodging. If you are ever out at this location again, it might be interesting to see what would happen if you used a longer lens to make the tree appear slightly smaller than the hills behind and to increase the size of the bg trees.