Smith Rock State Park
Near to home so easy to visit. Try to get some good shots here and there. Any useful critique?
More Posts in: Landscape and Nature Photography
Dima Діма
Can you recommend a smartphone that takes photos that look both natural and beautiful? I'm tired of photos that look so fake. What do you think of the OPPO Find X10 Pro Max?
Can you recommend a smartphone that takes photos that look both natural and beautiful? I'm tired of photos that look so fake. What do you think of the OPPO Find X10 Pro Max?
1
Last: Nov 06, 2026
Kyle Foreman
In The Round Practice
Hey everyone. Recently some Pep Ventosa work came across my social media and it inspired me to get out and try his in the round technique again. I've tried it before without a ton of success.
8
Last: Nov 05, 2026
Alan Brown
Exploring a different angle.....
I posted recently about how using the Bluristic app angle mode could simulate the action used in the Pep Ventosa 'in the round' technique.
7
Last: Nov 05, 2026
Денис Білоус
Can you recommend a smartphone that takes photos that look both natural and beautiful? I'm tired of photos that look so fake. What do you think of the OPPO Find X10 Pro Max?
Can you recommend a smartphone that takes photos that look both natural and beautiful? I'm tired of photos that look so fake. What do you think of the OPPO Find X10 Pro Max?
Charles Mercier
Grain silo
A couple of old photos taken while the Amtrak was stopped - somewhere in Colorado, I think?
(And yes, I like that the vertical leans!)
2
Last: Oct 22, 2026
3 Comments
Hi Tim! They're both attractive, dramatic, well-composed images to my eye. Well done!
What does strike me is that while you seem to be aiming for a dramatic, high-contrast image, perhaps in the Ansel Adams style, you've gone a little far with the dark shadows. Although there IS shadow detail, and they're not "blocked up" with masses of featureless black as can happen if this approach is take too far, I'd open up the shadows as in the edits below.
I understand if you think this is a backward step, and kills the drama - it's YOUR vision, and they're YOUR images. I note that your portfolio generally features a similarly fairly low-key style.
Thank You! Yes I tend to make them a bit dark and contrasty, seemingly unconsciously at this point. I love Ansels style like that but I always seek to add more details. I dont know if he was limited by technology then and would be doing the same now? I hope Im doing my own thing and not just another yosemite valley clone but maybe thats where I fit in?
Not much in art, if anything, is truly original, is it, Tim? AA was my original great inspiration, although my tastes have evolved over the years.
Not sure what you mean about Adams, who was at great pains with his Zone System to preserve shadow and highlight detail. He would certainly be using all the tech that might help. His comments on the little colour photography (imagine 8 X 10 Kodachromes - I'd have killed for those!) he did, and the limitations in printing this make this pretty clear. If you don't know them, "Ansel Adams in Colouir" and "Looking at Ansel Adams", the latter written by one of his assistants, Andrea Stillman, are attractive books in many ways, throwing light on his approach beyond the strictly technical.
In case you don't already know them, you might enjoy the work of another one-time AA assistant, John Sexton, especially "Quiet Light" and "Listen to the Trees", although he has a softer touch than Adams. Also check out Michael Kenna, who like you doesn't mind a bit of Dmax, and uses film and the darkroom to this day (but a "mere" Hasselblad, not a view camera).