Critique Seeking

[drew]

There is nothing to be too critical of here. Nice mono conversions and interesting skies. The least successful shot IMO is the one with the path leading into the shot...the snow covering here creates a large blank and unappealing space. The best shot is the one with the fallen tree stump in the water as this has the right combination of foreground interest combined with the distant mountains. What you need to ask yourself is would you hang any as a print on your wall? I think the tree stump shot is the only one that meets this category, the rest are nice scenic shots, but lack the added compositional elements to make them really stand out. Hope this is what you are after?

[drew]

Yes, Curious. When I pasted the links into my browser, I could see the images and then they displayed at the expected locations on the page. Very strange. Your second attempt at posting works fine.

[Joja]

theyre very well done!
i find the first one the best and the fourth one has some interesting light in it. but i agree with jonathan that it could be enhanced by cropping.

[renhoek]

Thanks for the replies and help. I will work on 1 & 4 taking into account the advice and repost.

[renhoek]

Hi everyone, been here a few times although new to the forums.

A lot of good photogs on this site, so looking for some critique & opinions on some recent shots taken in Autria and Germany if anyone feels like typing.

All Nikon D100 with Sigma 24mm

Thanks

JP

[renhoek]

There is nothing to be too critical of here. Nice mono conversions and interesting skies. The least successful shot IMO is the one with the path leading into the shot...the snow covering here creates a large blank and unappealing space. The best shot is the one with the fallen tree stump in the water as this has the right combination of foreground interest combined with the distant mountains. What you need to ask yourself is would you hang any as a print on your wall? I think the tree stump shot is the only one that meets this category, the rest are nice scenic shots, but lack the added compositional elements to make them really stand out. Hope this is what you are after?

Yes exactly what i was after thank you!

For prints I agree with what you said, although my personal favorite is 7892, followed by your choice.

Thanks again

Jon

BTW the images do not show for some reason when I view this page, so I have added them again from another server.

[Jonathan Wienke]

All the shots are well-done technically; a bit darker than I would do personally, but that's just my personal perference. B&W conversion and sharpening (to the extent such things can be judged by web JPEGs) are excellent. I personally like the first and second images, the fourth would be improved IMO if cropped square with just a little water at the bottom. The third can't seem to decide whether it's about the sky or mountain.

[jdemott]

Nice shots.  The first is definitely my favorite.  The tree stump creates a very strong moody shape--in fact I think the shot would work well cropped approximately square showing just the bottom half of the photo. The second is a nice composition; I have the sense that a little work on local contrast, particularly in some of the foreground areas, could add a lot more feeling and depth to the shot--by enhancing the detail in the snow covered path, it would more strongly draw the eye into the frame.  In the third, I am troubled by the sameness of texture and tonal range of the snow on the mountain and the cloud patterns in the sky.  I wonder whether somewhat different settings in Channel Mixer for the B/W conversion would emphasize the differences between ground and sky, but perhaps your intention was the opposite.  In number four, the water adds little and should be cropped to a narrow ribbon.  Again I think some work on local contrast could give a lot more appeal to the image, as by emphasizing the highlights and dark rock on the mountain and by giving more definition to the buildings in the foreground.  Hope this helps.  

John DeMott

It feels strange that the clouds are not very close to the same brightness laterally.  Was that intentional?

[renhoek]

I notcied that too. Not sure why - wasn't done by design. Maybe my ND grad.?