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Walker Lambert's picture

Just a Simple Little River Shot (Critique Wanted)

The plant in the middle of the river caught my eye and I liked the way it looked with a little bit of long exposure. Would love some constructive criticism on the composition and post processing. Shot on Canon 60D, 24-70 f2.8 lens at 24mm, ISO 100, f 22, 1.6 second exposure. Thanks!

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6 Comments

i believe i read/heard someone on here stating that going high on the f-stop reduces the quality of the image and they suggested getting a ND filter (which i promptly did) i think this would fall int the same category. composition is nice but i tend to like things off center so i may have rotated slightly left of your position to still have the highlights but capture more of the stream and have the plant be left side bottom you may want to play with it in PS with the intensity in areas make certain things focal points. when you center or highlight a certain object your eye gets stuck and doesn't want to continue through the picture looking good keep it up

Thanks for the advice! I am saving up to get a filter kit soon.

Joseph Cole, I like the ND filter idea. I might also use the filter to open up that aperture to separate your subject from that busy background, while still maintaining a slow shutter speed. Nice comp and lighting by the way.

thanks!

I think if the plant caught your eye, then make it about the plant. I thought it was about the river and that the plant was a nuisance. Your point of view is too high. If you want to emphasize the plant, get creative. Go in the river, shoot from down low, fill the frame with it, or use telephoto lens to zoom in. The part I like in the plant is the foliage being dragged by the river, it has nice texture and movement. I wonder what a tight composition on just this would have been. Like this :

Thanks for the advice. Yes I agree that I should have focused more on the plant. I need to practice taking my time and really thinking about the composition when I find an interesting subject, as I often get excited and rush it.
thanks