Landscapes

The composition has the boat at exactly the right angle, with all the colour and texture given to the viewer right at the beginning of the image. Had it been possible, perhaps there could have been a little more space either side of the hull. Possibly the image would not have looked like this to the human eye as the HDR (or apparent HDR) used is too noticeable. There seems to be quite a bit of over sharpening which has introduced a gritty and noisy appearance. The lovely textures and colours of the boat could still have been conveyed without false lightening. Perhaps the sky could look less monochrome. All in all though, a strong composition.

The single tree expresses its nobility and stature when isolated in this way and the two central trunks play an important role right down to where they split. Thankfully the light was low enough to provide some modelling to the curvaceous background and the texture lent by this side-lighting has stopped the snow from just being a white nondescript blanket. The blue shadows work well and somehow any clouds would have made the image look too mannered. Two-thirds land and one-third sky being the traditional and conventional proportions always works and is safe.

A number of exposures used to overcome extreme contrast is a very successful tool and is called, as many people would know, HDR (High Dynamic Range). Current sensors are not able to embrace extreme contrast, in the way that transparency film was also not able to. If HDR is to be used, then an acute understanding of lighting ratios and the way light is absorbed and reflected by different services is very important. HDR seems to have been used here resulting in too low a contrast and a relationship between water and mountains that may not even have seemed this way to the human eye. The shutter speed used was spot on, the water remains water and the turbulent areas have not blown out. The silvery gold metallic feel of the water to the right is excellent.

The isolated element works in many cases especially when there is a strong sense of emotion attached to it. The emotion is brought to the viewer via the snow, which adds to the sense of remoteness and harsh conditions. The expression of the house makes it. The pink door to the right offers the only warm aspect of the image and thankfully was not concealed by branches as the lower window was. Had that been the case, the image may not have worked so successfully.

The separation between the icebergs that have formed into independent islands lend a sense of depth to this image and any lower vantage point would have compressed it and it would not have worked so well as a result. The aurora borealis is very evenly positioned with three powerful streaks in the middle and two supportive ones at each side. The feeling of night is not apparent and that was not the intention of the photographer. There is a ‘thrilling’ feel to this image and it almost feels that there is a visitation from a phantom about to take place.

Out of confusion has come a sense of order. The warm reeds in the foreground pick up other warm areas within the main body of the photograph, providing linkage between foreground and background. Everything is set against a magenta, pink backcloth which leaks into the foreground via the water and the join between background and water is invisible. At first glance the image is flat and at second glance it has far greater depth. The steely grey of the trunks suits the overall colour palette and the vivid splatters of green enliven the trees.

This image has a distinctly oriental feel and perhaps there has been some influence here from Chinese water colourists. It is important for the viewer not to try and understand where foreground and reflection divide and to see the image as a delicate painterly whole. The lily pads appear to be floating in the sky and to find them again set against the dark hill like shape is fun. The immediate foreground is perhaps a little bit monotonous but it does provide a very sound foundation on which the remaining part of the image sits very comfortably. The smudge of magenta in the top centre part of the sky works really well and the question of how it was made to me does not arrive.

The random patterns are obviously what make this image work and the chaotic nature of shapes make a very sound coherent whole. Once again the cool and the warm works very well in that the water is reflecting the blue sky above and the separations (sometimes almost parallel) are set off so well against this blue. In amongst the water there are entertaining ripples and it is quite easy to see some of the vegetation coming up in the water. The little dwelling to the right with the flat grey roof is perfectly positioned.

The reflection from the pantheon is lovely and the photographer will have been pleased that the wind had not disrupted the surface of the water. The introduction of tree branches to the left was a technique popular in previous years to make up for empty skies but in this case the branches do not improve the photograph. Also there are some white gaps in the top left-hand part of the image, which steal the viewer’s attention away and out of the photograph. The pair of rather comic trees to the right work well and the splash of autumnal orange above works well.

Relationships between foreground, background and, in some cases, sky always help to make an image cohesive and pleasing. Here is good example of rhythm expressed by the melting snow and the wavy outline of the mountains beyond. In the middle of each dark shape in the foreground there appears to be something reminiscent of lightning bolts but are of course actually water showing through. The majority of the image is cold but the splashes of pink here and there make it not quite so harsh.

It is important for the viewer of any abstract photograph not to try and unravel what it is or where it was but to accept it as a whole. The moment one starts to try and decipher how it was done the relationship between viewer and image is broken. To me this image is full of light, packed full of emotional triggers, very calming and at the same time dramatic. The feeling of light is very well conveyed and the relationship between the deep blue and the dark brown of the reeds and the hill-like shape in the middle of the photograph works really well. The ‘apparent sky’ is completely acceptable even if it isn’t a sky at all and the vertical streaks in the top of the picture do not spoil the pleasure of the image.

There is an uncertainty as to whether the viewer being slammed into the immediate foreground by the furrows works. Also the soil colour at the front of the image contrasts unsuccessfully with the soil elsewhere. The idea works really well however, but perhaps the foreground should be omitted as the very front of the image is unsharp. The sky is clearly how it was on the day, but perhaps the photographer would have wished for a little more activity in the top third of the image. One question remains hanging in the air, “Was there a strong graphic shape to be made from the wonderful parallel lines in the middle of the image?”

This location surely must be one of the eeriest on planet earth and the choice of which skeletal tree is the key to conveying the spooky feel of Deadvlei. However there appears to be some major digital manipulation of the tree itself and the artificial lighting of the foreground tree has not been successful as it should have been as punchy and as black as the remaining trees to the left. The shadows from the foreground tree indicate that the tree is virtually backlit and even with the reflected light coming from the white service of the ground, the branches could never have been naturally lit in such a way. Furthermore the lighting of the trees can be identified by the feathering that has taken place.