labgolden

Scott -- You certainly got it all together in this shot:  composition, detail and sharp focus in the important areas, and capture of the critical moment.  If I had taken this, I'd be looking for photo contests in which to enter it.  Congratulations!

With a slow shutter speed, I was trying to show the power and movement of

the water in a way that the viewer could almost "hear" it crashing into, around,

and over the rocks.

For me, taking this at 1/10 accentuated the power of the water against the

rocks and log because "lines of movement" were visible. It also transformed

the rays of evening sunlight from too-bright blotches to subtle highlights.

This image was taken in late June, when the flow was significant but not

heavy enough to prevent me from getting to the river's edge to shoot directly

across to the log.

As mentioned by Ken, the detail in the dark mountainside is quite nice, and the sense of scale provided by the photographer essential to the image.  But the light on the lower slopes, the contrasting cloud layer, and gradations of light and color in the clouds make for a very, very nice landscape.  Certainly liked maintaining the color subtlety (resisting over-saturation).

In the what-would-I-do-differently department, I'd crop ever so slightly from the right and top edge -- strictly a personal preference.

Roberto and Scott -- With your comments, I've now experienced how exciting it is to create a photo that generates a range of opinions.  For me, that's thrilling and fun and satisfying.  Thank you very much for your specific insights and for the time you gave to share them.

. . . Stephen, Alf, and Ernest.  Constructive comments like yours are VERY helpful to me.  The suggestion to remove the sky now seems obvious (since it doesn't include the interest of lines or color gradations), and I'm asking myself why I couldn't have "seen" it before posting.  Thanks so much for your time.

Missed the morning light for a more traditional photo, but the shades of

blue/green/brown still caught my eye. But what will experienced landscape

photographers say about it?

This was frequently what we saw during a 4-day road trip along the

California central coast. Before starting, we declared this mini-vacation to

be "all about Maile" because of her recent medical diagnosis.

Hello Anette,

Looking at the larger version by clicking on your photo, I noticed that your subject's face was not in focus, but some of the buds on the bush were, as are parts of the scarf and sweater.  What was your reason for keeping sharp focus away from the subject's face?

Thank you ~ Richard

When viewing others' photos, I find myself drawn to ones that are simple

and uncluttered, but that also have "the something" to hold my interest.

That was what I was trying to achieve.

First impression?  Wish I could have claimed this photo -- 

This photo grabbed my attention by its simplicity, but when I looked at it closer (and larger), I found much to like:

1. Contrasts - The sharp focus of the island vs. everything else.  The overall "blue" feel vs. hints of other colors along the shore as well as the near-silhouette of the island.

2. Gradations of color and tone

3. Reflections in the water 

4. Visual "tickle" of the ripples 

In short, Alf, I love the feel, the subtleties, and the visual treasure hunt that your photo invited.  ~ Richard

Thank you Phil, Marco, and Ramon -- your recognition make it worth the evening spent cleaning sand out of my equipment. :)

Richard

The racket from the flapping of my rain jacket hood, the howl of the wind, and

futile efforts to keep the horizontally blowing sand from fouling the camera and

tripod -- that's what I'll remember whenever I look at this photo. No, this isn't

the typical Cannon Beach photo.

The pole, bird feeder, and backlit greenery were dodged using Aperture,

but the broken supports receding toward the background were

purposefully left in silhouette. I did NOT want to tame the harsh light

reflecting off the water.

Wanghan and Ranga, thank you for taking the time to view my photo and to add a comment.  ~ Richard

The leisurely, smooth flow and low angle of view illuminated the "texture" of

the water as it squeezed between the rocks, and that is the quality I hoped the

camera would capture.

We've enjoyed "large-scale" Yosemite many, many times, both in the valley

and along high country trails. This was an effort to find beauty on a far smaller

scale. Did it work?

Hi Sheila,

I remember your "Winding Fence" photo, and I wasn't at all surprised that this photo caught my eye as I scanned through the photo critiques forum.  The color of the sky was what probably grabbed my attention, but I think that I'm drawn to peaceful farm scenes.  And you do those so well!  The three, parallel elements (barbed wire fence, grass strip, road) are a graceful and visually interesting entrance into your photo.

Out of curiosity, did you keep your Xti? If so, do you still use it occasionally?

Regards, Richard

Hello,

Your setting had lots of visual interest by its somewhat neglected appearance -- peeling paint, slightly overgrown climbing plants, dried out plants in the right foreground, etc.  All of those things surrounded your human subject, and for that reason I would have liked her looking in any direction except at the wall to her right; I wanted her looking at what I was seeing.  There's lots of interesting details throughout the photo.  A tiny, tiny detail I would have wanted eliminated was the object in the background and just peeking from behind her waist (BBQ grill?).   

Bare feet is perfect for this shot, and her posture conveys being stopped short and taking time to absorb the scene.

Look forward to seeing more of your photos.  ~ Richard

I very much appreciate your comment, especially considering examples of your photos that I've viewed.  ~ Richard L.

Hiking in the Sierra Nevadas, it's easy to find the wide views, the

spectacular, the grand. But there is beauty on many different scales.

Thank you, thank you!

I double-checked the shutter speed -- 1/1000 -- so I doubt that the yellow flower in the lower left corner suffers from motion blur. Probably closer to the lens than the buds/grass at the lower front edge.    

Roberto, 

I was quickly paging through the landscape critique thumbnails when your photo brought me to a screeching halt.  The colors and sharpness were what stopped me, but the longer I looked at your photo, the more I appreciated the beauty of all the reflections and the detail even in the shadow areas.  The symmetry of reflections are always pleasing to my eye, but the asymmetrical features that you included prevent boredom -- the rock out of line in the lower left; the areas lit and unlit by the sun; the variation of the topography across the lake.

You need to find space on your wall for this one.  ~ Richard

. . . if I had to do it over again I'd give the mountains a tad more space to

breathe; more importantly, I'd have used Manual or Aperture priority to use

f/16 or 22 and get a sharp immediate foreground. This was the final shot on

the way back down the trail, almost an afterthought. Lesson learned.

As the last daylight faded and the man-made lights became more prominent,

unexpected parting of the clouds subtly illuminated the water.