Critique Center Parcs Woburn

M

Mauri3205

Messages
221
Name
Mo
Edit My Images
No
The first photo that I feel proud of on my recently begun photography journey. I’m interested in hearing your opinions on this one that I edited in Capture One Express; sharpening, shadows, tried to make the night sky stand out a little more to better show the stars.

If I can start with some self critiquing, the centre of the photo has this seemingly white spot and if you zoom in the colour transition looks odd. I believe the halo is from the street lights around the lodges behind the trees and with the 20 second exposure I inadvertently caught some of it.

https://flic.kr/p/2kX4Ebq
View: https://www.flickr.com/photos/192943262@N04/51162592188/
 
Last edited:
I would really appreciate feedback from those willing to provide it! You can be as brutal as you wish, I won’t learn otherwise :)
 
i like the shot! I'm no professinal, however I'd be tempted to show more of the sky perhaps, to balance out the reflections?
 
stickytape said:
i like the shot! I'm no professinal, however I'd be tempted to show more of the sky perhaps, to balance out the reflections?
Click to expand...

While taking it I was thinking the same but this was taken without a tripod. I placed the camera on a wooden stump and got it level with the lens rested on the strap. I would love to go back after I buy a tripod.
 
Mauri3205 said:
If I can start with some self critiquing, the centre of the photo has this seemingly white spot and if you zoom in the colour transition looks odd. I believe the halo is from the street lights around the lodges behind the trees and with the 20 second exposure I inadvertently caught some of it.
Click to expand...
If you have Capture One I would assume cloning out the white spot would be fairly straight forward, I've never used Capture One.

For a night shot without a tripod it is well captured but I am left wondering why you shot that scene and why at night? One of the things that is quite difficult sometimes is to separate your feelings when you are enjoying being present in a place and how a photo of that might engage an audience.
 
sirch said:
If you have Capture One I would assume cloning out the white spot would be fairly straight forward, I've never used Capture One.

For a night shot without a tripod it is well captured but I am left wondering why you shot that scene and why at night? One of the things that is quite difficult sometimes is to separate your feelings when you are enjoying being present in a place and how a photo of that might engage an audience.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your honesty, it is a valid point. Chalk it up to excitement, I believe the trip came a few days after getting my first camera and after weeks of reading and watching tutorials I was excited to put it all into practice. I think while as a whole it may be pleasant to look at, there is no clear subject that draws the eye and it doesn’t rise to being a great photo.

In a short period of time I learned not to push too hard and when something great comes up you’ll just know it. I have since shot some that are artistically better which I will share later on.
Thanks for the feedback!
 
If you don't mind a little more feedback, a few thoughts on the image.
Processing wise it seems ok, when it comes to the actual composition of the shot, I would have tried a couple of things.
Firstly I'd just focus on the larger group of trees on the right. The smaller group doesn't add so much to the image and eliminating this would also eliminate the two white sheets as well.
You could also try this out as a simple crop in your editor of choice. I would probably also opt to lose some of the reeds in the foreground.
The cables cutting through the sky are a distraction, so if it was possible, I would try to move along the lake to the right and then compose the image hopefully without the cables and just the right hand group of trees.
Another thing I try to watch out for is that you give room around something like a tree so it doesn't get cut off at the edge of the photo. That can be tricky to spot when shooting at night though.
Reflections can be very pleasing for photographers, but you have to work out what you want in your reflection and is there anything in the water that disrupts the reflection.
I'd be interested to see what other shots you got at the same location to see if any of those offer anything different.
The more photos you take, the more you learn what works and what doesn't. Also it's not always about following a formula to produce the perfect image every time.
Keep going (y)
 
Thank you @ABTog for your feedback. I have been meaning to get back to you for a while but between work commitments and some private issues to deal with I have been consumed until the start of the weekend.

Your comments are well noted, in addition to starting out in photography I am making a similar start in editing so I will practice by editing the shots as you suggested.

I have just gone through all photos from the trip and broadly speaking for the ones at this location, daytime is blown out, all suffer from the same distractions. Had you asked a few weeks ago I would have enthusiastically shared half a dozen. Today after reflection, learning more about histograms and seeing some of the excellent work from others here I feel I have progressed from newborn to just opened my eyes (still not walking though :LOL:)

I was out in Kew Gardens yesterday armed with some new gear (CPL, filter and tripod) and more importantly some knowledge, Your words were actually on my mind! I cleared the foreground, tried to reduce any cut off trees at the edge (will edit the one tree I couldn't cut). I'm very grateful for your guidance
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top