Indonesian Fisherman

[I-wander]

[IMG][/IMG]

This was taken in North Sulawesi Indonesia in a fresh water lake in the mountains.
Please critique/ comment on the following:
1 -compostion
2 -Processing - too much? does it still look natural/ true?
3- does the barely visible bamboo stalk in the upper right quandrant add to the photo or should I clone it out?

Thanks for looking and I appreciate any of your feedback.

Thanks!

~Andy
Flickr: I-Wander76's Photostream

[I-wander]

Bump........

[dcclark]

Hey -- great photo. The minimalism and soft tones really catch me. I can feel a definite sense of loneliness, but also quietness in the scene.

So, on to your questions:

1. Composition -- I sort of covered that, but it's very nice. There's a strong subject, with subtle details all around it giving some good context. Good job.

2. Processing -- while I can sort-of tell that you must have processed, it looks good. The tones are subtle, nothing strikes me as really "overdone".

3. Now onto my one real criticism -- The bamboo stalk drives me nuts! I thought there was a streak on my screen and tried to rub it out. :P I think it doesn't add anything to the scene, except to pull my eye away from the fisherman. Don't crop -- try cloning it. I like the empty space and distant hills (or clouds?), and cropping would remove too much of that.

Keep it up!

[I-wander]

Thanks for the very detailed critique. I agree with the bamboo being cloned out. Funny that you tried to clean your screen!

Have a good one.

~Andy

[A.CampbellPhotography]

I agree with the bamboo, clone it out. It really interferes with the space and composition of the piece. This may be a personal preference, but I think the contrast, particularly the blacks, are too harsh in this. It's a softer image, to me, the blacks stand out too much and detract. It looks like there might be some details lost from the processing of the black as well. I'd tone it down some. Some contrast is good, but I think it's a bit too much right now.

[photopriority]

I like the coposition etc.. but i do'nt like the postprocess, i think a more natural photo still would work great...

[EMansfield]

I'm a fan of soft tones too so the color tones of this shot look good to my eyes. And I strongly agree with the suggestion of cloning out the bamboo stalk. Like dcclark, I thought there's a sort of crack in my LCD monitor.

Cheers!

Eric Manfield