Hey Hunter. With so many mixed/subjective opinions you should go with the one that really matters, your own. You should be posting the one you are most happy with, the one that represents you.
Don't worry about ratings. I have posted some that gained recognition in competitions that rated low on FS, where others that I didn't particularly rate myself gained a higher score.
BTW - I personally like the 'feel' of the first image more. The foreground elements give it more depth and provide balance. I'm sure many will prefer the 2nd.
Thanks! That was one of the most helpful comments I've ever read on Fstoppers! The first one is the original edit and the second is a not-that-successful version in removal of the architecture via post-production (it doesn't look that "real" because, just like you said, there is no foreground and depth). I can't say which one I like more, because they all express different emotions, and yet similar as they might seem, if you would "feel" the photo rather than simply analyze it, you would probably feel that they are of different styles and emphasize different characteristics of the scene itself, therefore uncomparable for some people. I was one of them, as you see. Now I would like to post both, even if that meant repetition for some people. By the way, it's really wize how you talked about the rating issue of FS! I've seen a couple of photos tone-mapped to the nth degree get a four star rating! (and a couple of photos I worked on for days get marked as "snapshot" 😂)
Thanks Hunter, I appreciate that. I learned some time ago that I can't be someone else, and I certainly can't be everyone else so I may as well just stick to being myself.
Really though, photography is such a personal thing that you really can't get hung up on what others think.
If you are in it for 'likes' just shoot pictures of kittens and puppies, but if you want to shoot something meaningful go out and shoot what strikes an emotion inside you.
I feel the images here reflect who you are and you should feel proud to make them available to the world.
BTW - I hope you don't mind but I could see a possible improvement to image #2 to better suit my personal taste. Just a simple crop as the left side feels a bit empty/creating imbalance. You can use as a comparison, but whatever you do stick to what 'feels' right to you.
Oh! I see what you mean! It does look strange that the dark mountains just "ended" in the middle of the photo. Your crop seems very attractive, when considering this factor. But unfortunately the vignette was added in a film preset I applied to the first photo, before removing the houses and trees, which means that I can't re-edit the vignette to fit the frame. Is there any way to fix this?
P.S. I still felt a bit more "feel" of emptieness in a 16:9 aspect ratio ( ^ _ ^ )
Technically yes...I tried it long before you posted this comment, but it didn't work for me :(
By the way, I have created a new version of this photo, and put it in another group post ;-D
Hey Hunter. With so many mixed/subjective opinions you should go with the one that really matters, your own. You should be posting the one you are most happy with, the one that represents you.
Don't worry about ratings. I have posted some that gained recognition in competitions that rated low on FS, where others that I didn't particularly rate myself gained a higher score.
BTW - I personally like the 'feel' of the first image more. The foreground elements give it more depth and provide balance. I'm sure many will prefer the 2nd.
Thanks! That was one of the most helpful comments I've ever read on Fstoppers! The first one is the original edit and the second is a not-that-successful version in removal of the architecture via post-production (it doesn't look that "real" because, just like you said, there is no foreground and depth). I can't say which one I like more, because they all express different emotions, and yet similar as they might seem, if you would "feel" the photo rather than simply analyze it, you would probably feel that they are of different styles and emphasize different characteristics of the scene itself, therefore uncomparable for some people. I was one of them, as you see. Now I would like to post both, even if that meant repetition for some people. By the way, it's really wize how you talked about the rating issue of FS! I've seen a couple of photos tone-mapped to the nth degree get a four star rating! (and a couple of photos I worked on for days get marked as "snapshot" 😂)
Thanks Hunter, I appreciate that. I learned some time ago that I can't be someone else, and I certainly can't be everyone else so I may as well just stick to being myself.
Really though, photography is such a personal thing that you really can't get hung up on what others think.
If you are in it for 'likes' just shoot pictures of kittens and puppies, but if you want to shoot something meaningful go out and shoot what strikes an emotion inside you.
I feel the images here reflect who you are and you should feel proud to make them available to the world.
BTW - I hope you don't mind but I could see a possible improvement to image #2 to better suit my personal taste. Just a simple crop as the left side feels a bit empty/creating imbalance. You can use as a comparison, but whatever you do stick to what 'feels' right to you.
Oh! I see what you mean! It does look strange that the dark mountains just "ended" in the middle of the photo. Your crop seems very attractive, when considering this factor. But unfortunately the vignette was added in a film preset I applied to the first photo, before removing the houses and trees, which means that I can't re-edit the vignette to fit the frame. Is there any way to fix this?
P.S. I still felt a bit more "feel" of emptieness in a 16:9 aspect ratio ( ^ _ ^ )
You could try adding a vignette that is the exact same dimensions, but brighter by the same amount to cancel the first out.
Technically yes...I tried it long before you posted this comment, but it didn't work for me :(
By the way, I have created a new version of this photo, and put it in another group post ;-D
I am guessing you don't use Lightroom. LR provides a post-crop vignette so if you crop the vignette is applied after.
There is that tool in Affinity too. I'll give it a try :D