I'm new to FStoppers but that is mostly because I have never truly applied myself to every website, every contest and promoting myself to be the photographer I am. I've used very basic equipment and love to make the camera do as much work as possible prior to processing. I am an outdoor educator of more than 10 years. If you're asking yourself what that means, my normal response is 'I take kids and get us lost in the woods. I teach them to become a team, be environmentally friendly and aware and be safe outdoors. By the end of the week, they lead me back to the camp village.' Of course, my camera is always in my bag. I have always been a nature boy at heart and the job has always afforded me another beautiful thing to capture. So, I have a lot of simple and more complex landscapes. My goal in every shot I take is to make it different than anything I have seen before or more specifically, to make the viewer think about my image and instill a sense of wonder in doing so.
For instance, many people have taken an image of this tree at Mammoth Hot Spring in Yellowstone National Park. I'd love some critique on my image, if people do not mind. I look forward to hearing/reading what you have to say.
Thanks fellow Eco-peeps
Joel
I love it. And you really don't need more camera.
Thanks, and true.
Thanks for posting this, Joel. I really enjoyed reading your write up. Photography is very subjective, and what works for one person might not work for another. So please take my two cents with a grain of salt. It's more important that you enjoy what you do and like the fruit of it than for others to like it. That being said, as a photographer, here's what I would like to say about your image.
My first thought about the place you shot in, and the time you shot in, is that the background has more drama than the foreground. You have the mountains in the background and a gorgeous sky. True, the foreground has hot springs and some texture, but the snow mostly overwhelms all of it. So I would have composed this picture in a way that brings out the background more. Your foreground occupies more than half of this image. Maybe you could have got down lower to the ground. That way you could have framed the rather striking tree against more of the sky and less of the snow. This would also have the consequence of pushing the snow in the foreground down to occupy maybe 20% of the frame and not much more. You would still get the steam from the geysers, some of the colour contrasting against the snow, but most importantly, you would increase the drama in the image by bringing the tree into a more compelling position and showing more of the dynamism in the sky.
Also, I'm a sucker for some of the basic guidelines of composition such as the rule of thirds. I know the photography world is divided on the subject, but in some cases these rules do increase the impact of an image. So getting down lower would move the foreground to the bottom third of your image. I would also compose the shot to move the tree either left or right of centre (depending on which side of the tree has more drama in the sky) so that it also conforms to the rule of thirds.
These are my suggestions. But at the end of the day, it's what works for you.
Sid
I totally agree. I could have done that.
Honestly, I concur with everything that Sid has mentioned. You have an amazing scene, some fantastic light, and a lot of incredible natural elements all working for you. Playing around with your composition would allow you to truly maximize all the elements in the scene. Keep up the great work!!