Connemara, Ireland

[Corey Thompson]

I shot this when I was in Ireland last October. I was editing this in lightroom and was trying to set the black level from 15 down to 5 when I accidently typed in 515. 515 automatically got set to 100 and this was the result. I stared at it for a couple minutes before deciding it kind of looks cool. I like it because the black field isolates the pathway. In the original form, the pathway sort of blended in with the field and didn't stand out.

What are your thoughts, is the processing too over the top? Is there not enough interesting factor to the photo to grab your attention? Is the pathway leading off to nowhere ineffective? Would I be better off reducing the blacks back down to a normal level to show the detail in the dull light brownish looking field?

Connemara, Ireland by Visual Sensory, on Flickr

exif:
Canon 40D
35mm
iso 400
F/11
1/250 second

[Murtasma]

The processing in this image gives me a sense of loneliness. The blacks surrounding the pathway really help lead the eyes from the bottom of the image up into the sky. I like the treatment used here, in one sense the image looks just like any old snapshot walking down a path like this but the bold blacks surrounding it really effectively use the leading lines of the pathway more so then any typical snapshot would.

2. Technical Points

a. Dust / distractions- Image looks good I don't see any dust spots or distractions which really take away from the image.

b. Unwanted Blur - none

c. Focus - Focus looks good

d. Accurate Color /White Balance - The pathway's colors are off likely due to the adjustment that was mad with the blacks. Personally I would remove the saturation on the pathway and brighten it so the contrast between the pathway and blacks is stronger.

e. Contrast - I like the strong use of contrast in the image

f. Lighting - The sky looks visually intresting with this contrast.

g. Aperture Selection - Looks good to me the walkway is in focus all the way to the distant mountains.

3. Artistic Points

a. Crop – The crop you used I think works pretty well. I would also like to see a composition where the entire of bottom of the pathway is inside the frame to see how it would affect the travel of the eye through the image. It may not may a big difference and could even be worse but in situations like this I always take both images and review later to see which works best.

b. Aspect Ratio – Good use of portrait here. I think a landscape would not work well at all.

c. Fore / Middle / Background – The pathway is an effective leading line here. Due to the strong contrast there really isn’t a middle to the image but I don’t think it’s necessary in this situation with what you were going for.

d. Rule of Thirds / Centered – I think you did well following the rules of composition. A minor change in perspective can make a big difference so taking multiple shots and review later can be a helpful tool when you’re not sure exactly where to place the camera.

e. Color / Tonal Range – I don’t care too much for the muddy pathway. I would like to see the pathway in black and white more and bring the brightness up some. Right now the pathway I think is too dark to balance well with the rest of the image.

f. Types of color (Primary, Secondary, Complementary) – No comment here since color isn’t really the focus on the image.

g. Too Vivid / Not Vivid Enough – No comment besides I think the pathway has too much muddy redness on it.

h. Diagonals / S-Curve / Leading Lines – Good use of leading lines. I like the strong contrast in the image it really helps guide the eye through the image. I think this is a fun experimentation. Perhaps shoot on a different day with a more dynamic sky could create a more visually striking image. Also like you mentioned the trail really doesn’t lead anywhere. It looks like it goes over a hill in the distance. Perhaps doing the same image closer to the hill could create more depth.

4. Was there use of visually interesting elements to guide the eye around the image. – Yes the pathway was an effective tool to guide the eye into the image

5. Dark / Light

a. Are there too many dark or light areas – Black really dominates the image so I think a little more sky could help the image. You may have to stitch two images together to maintain this perspective.

b. Balance – I think the pathway should be brighter to help balance the image more since there is lots of black at the bottom of the frame.

6. Emotion

a. What is the mood – When I look at the image I get the feeling of solitude and loneliness because of the dreary sky and lack of distracting elements due to the contrast of the image.

b. Was that the intended mood – I believe so

c. Did they succeed in telling the story? – I believe so if this was your intention. I don’t think you were going with a happy fun time image seeing as black is a dominate force in the picture.

d. Do you like the photo? Why or why not - I like the photo because of the processing. The picture looks like it could be taken by anyone because I’ve seen lots of pathway shots like this but the strong black dominate force is something I haven’t seen before. I like unique things in images.

e. Would you hang it on your wall? Why or why not – Probably not this exact picture but one that uses blacks in the same way you did I certainly would.

5. Good Points – I like the unique processing you did here. The image with out the processing I think would be dull and boring. Sure it uses leading lines but I don’t think a pathway alone can make a good images.

6. Points worth improving – Slight changes in compositions and positioning I think may help create leading lines that go somewhere. If you approach the area where the pathway appears to go over a hill getting closer to that spot with perhaps a person standing at the crest against a dreary sky with an umbrella would be something I would hang on the wall.


Phew I'm spent thanks for sharing!

[SwissJon]

That looks like a very technical breakdown by Murtsama, I haven't read it, but I'll try to give you a more "gut feeling" response.

Which is basically my thoughts when I saw the photo.. "Oh I like that, it's a pity he cropped the path off on the left hand side though"

It's quite an interesting photo.

[Krusty79]

How do I follow a critique like Murtasma's? I'll just say I like the effect, even if it is over the top. I like some over the top HDR also. This looks like an alien landscape. You could trip people out by photoshopping some alien creature on the path. I wouldn't mind seeing the path a little brighter.

[danbaileyphoto]

My thought is that this is a little overdone. It's a scene that I have a hard time identifying with, although now that I think about it, this scene might look great as a black and white image.

[Corey Thompson]

Murtasma - I can't thank you enough for the lengthy critique, I appreciate it very much.
A little more background info on this shot. I flew out to Ireland by myself during the week I was supposed to be on my honeymoon. Due to complications, the wedding got called off, and we split up. Fast forward to now, we're back together and working things out. Point I was getting at is my overall mood during the trip was loneliness and depression. Although the black in this photo was purely accidental, the photo does sort of reflect how I was feeling when I took it. It's ironic how that worked out.

You provide a lot of good suggestions. I can try to do some dodging in lightroom to bring out the sky a bit better. I'll work on the walkway as well. I definitely have some work cut out for me this weekend

Dan - I'm curious to see how black and white would look. I think I'll create a virtual copy and see how that looks.

Thanks everyone for the input and suggestions.