Critique the Community
Adventure Photography
Submit your best adventure image for a chance to win a free Fstoppers tutorial
Congratulations to the winners!
Twenty adventure photographs were chosen and rated by the Fstoppers team. Do you think the feedback is fair?
The two highest community rated images for this episode were both submitted by Mads Peter Iversen. Since he is an Fstoppers writer, we decided to give the next highest rated photo the Fstoppers original tutorial prize. Congratulations to Marian Ragan for taking that spot. We'd also like to congratulate Dan Finn for being chosen as the winner of the second tutorial prize.
If you were unable to join this contest, submissions are now open for the next episode featuring underwater photography. It doesn't matter what your subject is, as long everything took place under water. This genre is considered by Patrick and Lee to be one of the most difficult in photography to photograph well. If you'd like your chance to be critiqued and potentially win a free Fstoppers original tutorial, submit your underwater photos HERE.
Rules & Prizes
Although adventure photography is a pretty niche part of the photography industry, we want to give it the spotlight in our next episode of Critique the Community. Let's hear what the community says about your pictures.
If you're unfamiliar with adventure photography, you're probably not alone. The genre largely includes the more strenuous types of outdoor activities such as rugged hiking, rock climbing, or kayaking; note Michael Destefano's featured image as an example.
Between now and September 14th, you may submit up to three of your best adventure photographs for a chance to be both critiqued by the Fstoppers team and win one of two Fstoppers tutorials. The first tutorial winner will be the community member that submits the highest rated image. The second winner will be selected at random. We will select a total of 20 images to provide feedback to.
After you've submitted your images, take a few minutes to scroll through the rest of the submissions to rate and comment on them. The easiest way to do this is use the number and arrow keys on your keyboard. Please keep any comments you leave encouraging and helpful as we're all growing in the craft together.
Fri, 09/14/2018 - 23:45
This contest has ended.
545 people have cast a total of 38,670 votes on 653 entries from 344 participants
Contest Submissions
Click on the thumbnails below to comment and rate each image.
Click here to learn about the Fstoppers rating system and what each star value means.
78 Comments
It say's three can be submitted for this one. I assume that's because it's more niche, so there will be less submissions than a category like "portraits" or "landscapes"
Ah my eyes skipped that! Cool.
Never saw that.
theres been a few where 3 are allowed.
I took the Northern light and tent shot. This was actually all in camera. A panorama of 6 shot. The tent was lit with a little LED flashlight from the inside. The mountain is actually lit by the town right behind the camera. This is Sarkofagen, a mountain that sits right besides Longyearbyen, which is the only town in Svalbard. So the light pollution is actually what's lighting up the mountains, explaining the nice even light.
Yea it says 3. I never knew about this category until I heard them mention it in the video.
Speaking of, this is the first time I've ever submitted any of my limited work.
Hah! I would have never guessed.
I shot the small biker in front of the glacier. I appreciate the critique. The picture was taken from a hillside opposite the glacier--not with a drone. It wasn't staged, I have no idea who the biker is. The lake is a popular recreation area in winter and I actually waited a while for other people to move out of the scene. Post-processing was difficult for me, it was hard to avoid a blue cast and still bring out some detail.
It has become a popular theme on Instagram though it often is a great establishing shot in a narrative
Well, it depends ... I spend about 6 hours off road driving and 3 hr. Hiking to take picture of the place. This picture will fit landscape category but not an adventure. So if i add tent or myself to image it supposed to show that i pit some effort and overall it was epic adventure. Plus the spot wasnt really shoot before...
Hi there! First and foremost I'd like to thank you all, it made my day! The truth is that it is not a fake, it is a 180° panorama stitched from 16 single exposures in one row (14mm/full-frame) shot on 15th of April this year. In fact, at this altitude (2 499m), you can see the milky way with naked eye very clear. It was taken at the end of the night (approximately 30 minutes to one hour before sunrise) therefore you can see brighter blue color on the left side above the horizon. 25s exposure is long enough to capture it if that is what you meant Patrick Hall Lee Morris , other light polluted areas are from nearby town Zakopane (left side) or other villages on the right side. Cheers!
I think I really don’t get this category...there’s some good ones here but a lot just seem like 2 or 1 star landscape photos with people standing in them...
Wow! I was definitely wrong on this one. That's awesome it was done all in camera with just a long exposure.
Agreed. A lot of timer photos with the subject's back turned to the camera and a lot of star tent photos.
Exactly. Just lots of pictures of people staring at stuff. Not very adventurous IMO. ;)
How do 2 photographers who shot several instances of a series called "photographing the world" not recognize the Seceda, probably the most photographed mountain on Instagram :D
IMHO adventure means a little bit more exposed and extreme. if a picture is able to transport this feeling / moment - thats what it is about in this category.
For me i think it is the same as nature/landscape photography, tough.. with a little sporty maybe:)
Great point of view Erol!
We've never been there and hardly use instagram.
Fair enough ;)
Dolomites are definitely worth a visit though
Agreed! I think a big factor with Adventure Photography is the story behind the photo. The photo is just a tool in which to help portray an experience.
I love travel, mainly follow landscape photographers on Instagram, and use the Instagram app every day. I didn't recognize the name Seceda or the shape of that mountain either. Iceland, Namibia and Patagonia feature much more prominently in my feed than the Dolomites.
Okay maybe i follow the wrong people then :D
Cause i see it at least once in a day.
I think it's probably always a mistake to assume that one's own feed is at all replicated in someone else's feed.
Didn't do that.
But for me that Peak comes right after lake Bled. it's everywhere, not just Instagram but also adverts and posters.
Agreed, i skipped over a good portion of photos that i didn't even want to rate cause they don't fit the theme.
My favorite cafe has a Photo book of mountains all over the world, it's back from film days, i cannot remember the name but it has some of the best Alpine Adventure Photos I've ever seen in it.
Not of the mountains but of the people climbing up.
I also agree :) To me, an adventurous photo should evoke thoughts like "SHIIIIIT! This is insane!" or at least" Damn... Just looking at this I feel like a couch potato." ;)
I feel they should add something to rate something as "not contest related" because I get the feeling that this has happened a lot on this one.
But the Adventure theme is very subjective, it all depends on what's adventurous for the photographer and the feelings they evoke
I really appreciated the critique. There were so many useful ideas and suggestions that ranged from very specific to quite esoteric. I liked that, as I think there was much to gain for every viewer who watched with an attitude of trying to learn.
Then I read the work of the Youtube commenters, who mostly came across as judgemental know-it-alls! Please don't mind them, Lee & Patrick, and keep going with these critique videos in the same way as you did for this one.
so, how are we supposed to rate images that dont fit the theme? some are nice shots, but.... not adventure.
don't rate it :D
I really know about the cave and waterfall shot. Photo looks like fully composited to me. Maybe I am wrong :D
What are some examples of 4-5 star shooters in the category? The one i can think of is the Canadian photographer Paul Zizka. The tricky thing about this category seems to be developing the skill needed for amazing photography and the adventure skills...a lot of the more ig style well styled person in landscape feels more lifestyle than adventure...
Yet, you posted the back of a dog in a rural park and an odd picture of someone swimming underwater. Not sure how you interpret them as adventure.
The swimming was in an alpine lake after a 3 hour hike. The dog one was a comment on all the photos of people just standing in landscapes looking into the distance. If a post of someone getting out of a car in banff walking 5 minutes to the most popular lake and then snap off a photo of it is adventure then my dog in the park is super adventurous
And I’m perfectly happy with the ratings i’m getting ;)
hahahaha
And I honestly was asking as the only adventure photography i follow is paul zizka (now thats adventure in banf) so i am curious who
I should be checking out at “mike kelly” level of the category
Mads Peter Iversen
Thanks! I just checked out his ig! Great landscape but I don’t see the adventure...it maybe that i just don’t get it but i guess i’m expecting that quality level buy with climbers, surfers, white water rafters, etc
yeah I'm thinking somewhere in between hiking and extreme mountain sports
Yeah...not all of Mads work is "adventure", but he's got some.
Depends what "Adventure" means for you.
What comes to my mind are pictures of Paul Nicklen, swimming with Leopard Seals or a Polar Bear sticking its head through the cabin window.
Or any sort of (extreme) sports such as free-riding or walking a rope over a canyon.
A lot of landscape images contain sort of an adventure, if you're hiking somewhere for days. But the outcome would be a landscape picture. The adventures part of hiking or wild camping then will be put in the "Instagram" category here.
I think a guy like Jimmy Chin is at the pinnacle of the "Adventure" Category.
Yup that's one of the guys I think of for this category!
I agree completely here, he is the best in his field (that being climbing adventure photography). Another few could be Chris Burkard and Jan Vincent Kleine. I suggested this category back on I think the macro contest, and I gave Chin as my example photog. I don't know if that's what prompted this category, but it might be.
Awesome thanks for the suggestions!!
I absolutely love adventure photography! It gives the person a beautiful natural backdrop doing some adventurous thing! It definitely is a difficult thing to photograph because as the person doing the adventure, you also wear so many hats. For me personally I do a lot of canyoning... it requires dry bags, camera equipment, climbing equipment, a team that knows what they are doing, and lastly you knowing what to do and how to position yourself where you need to be for the shot SAFELY. Some of the toughest environments are trying to be photographed with a person doing something insane. But it's nothing like coming home to an EPIC image of your friend or of yourself doing something crazy, usually deadly. I watched many Fstoppers videos on YouTube but when I saw "Adventure Photography" critique I finally joined the Fstoppers community!
The community's ratings are crazy, it is like everyone is an Ansel Adams, Sebastião Salgado, Annie Leibovitz, Steve McCurry or Richard Avedon.
There is a lot of wrongful down voting going on.