For those about to rock

[mazzachre]

Rocks in stream.

Camera: Olympus E-P1
Lens: M Zuiko D 14-42 (kit lens)
Taken at 14mm f3.5 handheld at 1/2 sec. (Standing on a wet rock in the middle of the stream... And yes I took many to get one that is not shaken...)

PP I have sharpened up the rocks and giving more overall contrast.



Part of my selection gallery for an internal photo-club competition at Downstairs 2011

[SwissJon]

What would you like critique on?

[dcclark]

I agree. Specific comments?

Having said that, here are my initial impressions:

- Nice details in the rushing water.
- No clear subject.
- Lots of visual weight to the top and left, not much to the right and bottom. That makes the image feel "unbalanced".

Perhaps changing composition a bit to have one rock which is clearly the subject would help.

[mazzachre]

I was looking for comments on the overall picture, so thank you.

It is not easy to retake the image (It is around 12000km from home) so I am working with what is there.

I personally think the whirlpool to the right is the subject, but it is not striking enough to draw my eye there. Don't really know what to about it though. I have noticed the lack of "anything" in the bottom right of the picture after your comment, so I consider just cropping it out. The bottom up to just under the horizontal while line in the flow that separates the whirl.

I am new to photography, so I am learning as I go to get better composition. I have learned alot about exposure now, and don't get that wrong too often any more.

[LoveDSLR]

"Yin and Yang" instead of "Rocks in stream."

The two opposites, hard and soft etc.

[danbaileyphoto]

Thanks for sharing. Nice effort here. Judging by your own words, though, it seems as if you weren't entirely sure what your subject was here. That's ok, though, just keep practicing and working to hone your compositional eye to create photos that draw the viewer in and keep them exploring the subject matter that spoke to YOU. Photography is a lifelong process, just keep working at it.