Hi all!
I'm looking for some feedback on some of my photos, specially in terms of post processing. I prefer not being too heavy handed, and prefer a relatively natural look to the photos as opposed to the over saturated/crushed blacks muted looks. What do you guys think of these images? Is there a direction you think I could take that might look tasteful yet not overdone/unreal?
Looking for critique
To me,they all look very natural, so don't worry :)
Number one feels crooked, I don't know if it is. Number 2 could use a touch of dehazing or a graduated filter to bring out the clouds, and the light is quite flat. Number 3 is too green I'd say. Dramatic settings in the mountains work fine in black and white, you could try it. But I think that composition needs something more.
The way I see it:
1)You could do the big black hole lighter just to see all blue tones of that iceberg. Moreover, If you do so, you will probably see, or even create(by dodge/burn technique) some light curves which will guide our eyes just towards the man in yellow kayak. Also, I think you should crop the image and make it the vertical image just to have "the big black hole", some around of this hole and 2 men.Nothing more.
2)Yes, you actually can create more powerful sky in this picture.
3)This composition can be better If you have a man standing at the end of the ridge just to create a scale of the surrounding landscape.You can even create the effect that this man can touch the sky. But without the man this composition doesn't work for me because of there are no subjects what I should look at.
There are three things I was taught to look for in critiquing a piece of art: What was the artist (photographer) trying to do? How well did they do it? Was it worth doing? Starting with the first question - -can the viewer determine what the photographer was trying to do (is this simply an "I was here" snapshot or something more)? If the viewer can determine the intent of the photographer, then you can ask the second question -- how well did they do it? Then the third and maybe most important question of whether or not it was worth doing. At this stage of my photo career (65 years of taking photos), I no longer take an image that I though has been done or overdone thousands of times before. Before you take a shot, it is worth asking yourself the first and third question and then you can judge your work by question number 2.