Karoo Clouds

[W. Walker]

Hi

Once again, I would be interested to see what you think...

[degrub]

What is the subject of the photo ?

[Christoph C. Feldhaim]

I like the photo, but believe it requires a huge print - really huge ....
And a b/w conversion might be interesting.

[wolfnowl]

I agree with Christoph... I think the image is good, but subtle, and looking at it in a small frame makes one ask the question, "What is the subject here?"  Printed large there would be enough visible detail to make it more interesting.

Mike,

[W. Walker]

I like the photo, but believe it requires a huge print - really huge ....
And a b/w conversion might be interesting.

I have printed it as big as I can (17X22) and I really like it. The idea of the picture is to emphasize the part of my country where the terrain is generally flat with huge skies. You have that look - big sky - 360 degrees! I tried to give the picture as much depth as I could and wondered if you sensed that?

My heart sings when I am there.

[mahleu]

I need to go back to the Karoo. If the space is what you're trying to convey then it does need to be printed big. Or it needs something to give a sense of scale, which limits you to a farmhouse or a sheep in the Karoo...

[degrub]

i agree, a huge print would allow me to "immerse" in the image. That being said, at this scale, i found my eye immediately drawn to the white cloud and i lost that feeling.

Frank

[John R Smith]

Frank has once again hit the nail on the head.

Basically, our eye is usually drawn to the lightest part of the picture. If we compose and tone-map things effectively, we can make that work for us, but it does not do so here. We don't see the picture as a whole, just that little white cloud. Essentially, what you have is a sky shot with a strip of landscape at the bottom to anchor it. Any of us can do this, and it will end up looking much the same - and unless the cloudscape is really special (which this one is not), the picture will have little merit especially in portrait format. Conceived in landscape format it would have a somewhat better chance of success. I am sure that Karoo is a very special place, but I think that you could convey its essence much more effectively with a different approach.

John

[W. Walker]

Many thanks to those of you who took the time to comment - I really appreciate it.