Water reflections

Damn nice image. Super clean. Well edited.

The one thing that stands out to me as a problem- and this is super nit-picky- is probably due to poor lens correction... You can see in the lower center foreground that something is not perfectly level and square.

With all the other work done here, it is appearant you are in overall control of your images. To me, with all the other work done, I would have squared it up, too.

Other than that, I really like this image a LOT!

Thanks!

Dave

I really love this concept.... and I think it was well executed. I would love to see it in color, too.... but given the processing and what you have done, that just may not be possible (and still look good). I think this is a very strong image.

This is just such a fun, quirky image! How can I not love it? Not probably really a reflection, and a great exercise in the liquify tool, yet I really find it refreshingly different that most of the other images I have seen!

I like this because, while for sure it is a reflection, it is not a normal reflection. You thought outside of the box and made a beautiful image.

The single point perspective works well. It is a bit nit-picky.... but with so many strong vertical and horizontal lines, I think you should have. If you had squared up the lines, this would have just been a killer image (if you don't know how, drop me a line, I am happy to show you how!)

Thanks!

Dave

I really liked the development in this image- the colour is great. Very pretty image. The light is really nice, too. There were just some other images I liked a bit better..... but this is a GREAT image, and you have a great eye! Keep it up!

I really liked to colour in this image- the colour is great. Very pretty image. The light is really nice, too. There were just some other images I liked a bit better..... but this is a GREAT image, and you have a great eye! Keep it up!

I think this image has a lot of potential. It has a wide contrast range.... the side are pretty dark, though. I think if the contrast range had been brought up some, say with Curves in Photoshop, this would have been a bit more pleasing an image, and possibly worked a bit better.... The composition is great!

Hi! This made my short list, but not my final list. If you care to know why, read on, I will give you some honest criticism that (I think!) would have made this image better, and make you a better photographer....

Image is great- crisp, well exposed, great contrast. It is most of the way there. So you know what you are doing. I am a bit surprised you got such great stars at f/8, but that just adds to this image.

Where it fails (and I agree this is getting nit-picky!) is in the comp and framing. You are attempting a single-point perspective here.... and you did not pull it off. The medallion over the centre arch in the first bridge SHOULD be the centre of this image, and it's not. Even if you cropped to make it the centre of the image, it would be apparant this was not going to work.

To make a single point work, the camera axis HAS to be in line with the centre line of the image. Then you have to be level and square.... which this image seems to be.

In architectural photography, lines and angles are SUPER important. Converging lines and off centre images are some of the tell-tales of a beginner.

OK, so I am being super critical here, but that is what this image needs to take it to the next level. You are good, you have a good eye. But you need to work on your comp and your framing to knock it out of the park!

Good Luck!

Dave

I really liked to development in this image- the colour is great. Very pretty image. The light is really nice, too. There were just some other images I liked a bit better..... but this is a GREAT image, and you have a great eye! Keep it up!

I keep coming back to this. I like it, but it does not KILL me. I am still trying to put into words what would make this better, and I am having a problem figuring that out exactly.

I like the framing and the subject. That is what works well. I LOVE the mountain to the left.

I think what kills this is exactly why you entered it- the reflection! I think NOT seeing the pebbles below this super still and super clear water detracts.

I also think the time of day you shot this could have been better. This is early in the day right? Even earlier would have been better. It is- overall- just flat. More dynamic light would have been a lot more fun.

Thanks!

Dave

I think this is a wonderful image. The timing is spot on. Technically, you nailed it- a fast shutter speed is what makes this sing. There is no over=processing, with a hint of sharpening- well done!

Why didn't I rate it in the contest? To me, this is a bird image.... and the subject really the bird. While it contains a reflection, that does not seem to be the subject. So awards went to images ABOUT reflections, not with incidental reflections. But that takes nothing away from your wonderful image, and I did want to note that to you!

Cheers!

Dave

What a FUN IMAGE!!!! It tells a story (which is something 99% of images don't!- so well done!) Very pretty image. The light is really nice, too. There were just some other images I liked a bit better..... but this is a GREAT image, and you have a great eye! Keep it up!

I really like composition in this image- the color is great. Very pretty image. The light is really nice, too. There were just some other images I liked a bit better..... but this is a GREAT image, and you have a great eye! Keep it up!

Hi!

I wanted to let you know I liked this image.... but I did not pick it for an award. If you want to know why, read on, because I am going to critique it. I am NOT going to be kind... so be forewarned to leave your ego at the door. But I do think you are trying to make a good image, which is why I want to spend some time and give you an honest review....because I know you CAN make this a whole lot better! And that is my only purpose- I want to help you get better.

Number one, you NEED to edit your images. You cannot submit an image like this straight out of camera and think it has a chance in a contest. AT a minimum, this needs more contrast, and could use more color. A vignette would have been nice, too. But to me, the most unforgivable sin is the horizon line.... water NEEDS to be level! I see water with a slope like this and I have to wonder why it is not flowing downhill....

Second, your framing needs some work.... or you should have cropped this. There is too much space on the right, not enough on the left. I think you could have made this a lot better by cropping in on the single bird, with the right side just barely right of him (her) and the left side just cutting out the other two birds.

The third thing I would say you should work on is your background. I see ugly, unappealing homes in the reflection- ask yourself what these add to the image.... nothing, right? I would guess you did not work this image much- you shot it and moved on. If you want to get better, you need to keep working the image until ALL the elements are adding to the image. Shooting a bird is NOT enough...

OK, I am being super mean, but I hope I am not discouraging you. These are all things YOU can work on to make a better image next time. My main thought here is think about what you are shooting, and review what you have shot. Make it better in the field. Work on it! You CAN make a lot better images than this!

Dave

Hi!

I wanted to let you know I liked this image.... but I did not pick it for an award. If you want to know why, read on, because I am going to critique it. I am NOT going to be kind... so be forewarned to leave your ego at the door. But I do think you are trying to make a good image, which is why I want to spend some time and give you an honest review....because I know you CAN make this a whole lot better! And that is my only purpose- I want to help you get better.

First off, you have GREAT framing and composition. I might have tweaked the comp, but I would have been right next to you with my camera- your base image is great!

BUT...

What is the first thing YOU see wrong with this? Or maybe the better question is, how does this image compare to what you actually saw in Jackson?

The first thing I see here is SUPER high contrast. Any time you shoot INTO the sun, you are going to have that situation (look at my portfolio, I have made a living shooting the sun!) You cannot do it in a single exposure- no way, no how. You want to shoot like this, you are going to HAVE to take multiple exposures. NOTICE I DID NOT SAY HDR!!!! HDR, in most peoples hands, ruins a picture. But multiple exposures can make a great image.

If your camera has a multi-exposure HDR setting- and I think yours does (not a Canon person!)- you can start with a three stop spread with 1 stop between for a normal landscape. For this one, I would do five stops, and I might even do 2 stops between. This exposure would be a great base image, and you would get 2 lower (and then get the sun!), and two higher (and then get the landscape).

Pro tip: do a second set of exposures with your finger in the frame covering the sun so you dont get all the sun reflections and echos. (Cleaning your lens would help too, but you are still gonna get reflections).

Obviously, shoot raw. The go through in the light room and pick your exposures.... you want one for the sun part, one for the landscape part, and probably a transition element, too. Maybe a sky separate from your sun... especially if you have to hide your finger in a level!

Now develop EACH IMAGE for that element.... your landscape level will blow out your sky and sun but who cares? You will bring those in with a different level! Its sorta like a photographic jigsaw puzzle!

Highlight all your finished elements and send them as layers to Photoshop. Put down a base layer at the bottom- probably the landscape level, and then other layers on top (you can grab and reorder them in the layers menu on the side). Put a BLACK MASK on every level but your bottom level. Choose your brush, make the color WHITE, opacity 100 but flow 5-10, click on the mask of the next layer, and use your brush to start bringing in your next layer.

You wont get it on your first attempt, or maybe your tenth, but keep working it- that IS how you get great images. Just keep working it.

Not sure if this makes sense, but I am starting to make some videos on this technique... this one may help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QA2OX026Dw&t=319s

Anyway, that should hopefully get you started. See- that wasnt too bad, was it?

Good luck, and let me know if I can help!

Dave

Hi!

I wanted to let you know I liked this image.... but I did not pick it for an award. If you want to know why, read on, because I am going to critique it. I am NOT going to be kind... so be forewarned to leave your ego at the door. But I do think you are trying to make a good image, which is why I want to spend some time and give you an honest review....because I know you CAN make this a whole lot better! And that is my only purpose- I want to help you get better.

Lets just look at this as an image.... the first thing I see is the strong diagonal- good work there. Diagonals are a strong com positional element, and add interest to the image. However, the diagonal here takes you right out of the image... Try this: Crop in from the right past the man in the distance, so the image ends on those piles for salt.... what do you think? Stronger, better image?

Next, I really hate the bisecting line in the middle... it (to me!) kills this image. Had you shot lower, the men (women?) women would have crossed the horizon, broken that horizontal, and make the line less a problem (i think! I dunno, but I would have tried it). And you could have brought in more of the sky, which to me it looks like you thought was important in this image.

Have you ever heard of the two-legged zoom? GET CLOSER. If that means getting wet, then get wet- you will dry off! How cool would it have been if you had used your 22mm and been right above the last persons basket of salt, with the rest of the people walking away... MUCH more dynamic.

The village in the BG is pretty ugly.... I would have worked this for other BG elements if possible (Maybe not possible?)

But the biggest problem here is the HDR.... this image is very over processed. Dial it back a whole lot.

OK, so I have been a little mean here, and there are probably somethings you may not agree with. Thats cool. I am neither perfect nor always right. But maybe you will see some things you didnt think of right away, and push yourself to get better images.

Good Luck!

Dave

You know what? I looked at this for a LONG time- it is a very nice image. I like it a lot. But one thing KILLS it for me.....

"BIG LIFT"

My eye goes right there.... and the rest of the image is lost. This is a great example of why editing is SO important!

the exposure is great, I love the feel of the fog on this, it really s a great image.

Big Lift just kills it.

Sorry!

Dave

Hey!

just wanted to drop you a note on this image. I see what you did here.... or what I THINK you are doing.

Was this simply flipping the image, or is it a composite of the normal "fading" into the reflection? If the later, that is a great idea... and something I think you should continue to work on- that concept is wonderful.

The problem (regardless of how you did it) is that it just does not read well. I do not see this saying a whole lot... and the waves make the image too blurry to really see and recognize.

Again, I like the idea- keep working it! It has a lot of potential.