Black & White for a photography assignment, any critiques to add.

[Ronie]

So I had a black and white assignment for my photography course this past week.
Here is the image I submitted.


My instructor seemed to really like it, gave me a 90%, and left the following comment.
"Hey Tosha, good work finishing up the Lesson 7 Assignment! The inherent drama and impact of the monochrome (black and white) image really stands out in your work.

First Impressions
I’m impressed with how you approached your subject matter in this scene, and the post-processing that you applied here really helped to keep everything nice and punchy in the contrast.

Technical Recommendations
From a technical standpoint your settings worked out very nicely, and I like the way that you were able to keep the details nice and sharp with the longer f-stop. The ISO was nice and low, which controlled the noise/grain, and you used a good metering mode to keep everything tonally equal. Good work!

Creative Suggestions
Creatively speaking the image felt like it was tilting a little to the right, which is always something to watch out for. I like the way the snow is falling here, and the angle that you were able to shoot this with. Well done!
Again, Tosha, very nice work on this assignment keep up the good work!"

So now I bring it to you guys and ask what else could be improved upon? How's the composition look, the angle etc.
Thanks for the critique.
Tosha

[zona5101]

thats a pretty good critique you received...

I very much like the format of your instructors critique. It would be really beneficial if that was a standard format here. All it would take is a few people to start using it and pretty soon, others follow.

i. First Impressions

ii. Technical Recommendations

iii. Creative Suggestions

Thanks for sharing your image.

[Ronie]

Thanks! Yeah I like how he set it up as well. Made things a bit easier to follow.
Thanks again for stopping by and taking a look for me.
Tosha

[milosh]

Originally Posted by zona5101

thats a pretty good critique you received...

I very much like the format of your instructors critique. It would be really beneficial if that was a standard format here. All it would take is a few people to start using it and pretty soon, others follow.

i. First Impressions

ii. Technical Recommendations

iii. Creative Suggestions

Thanks for sharing your image.

That's not a bad idea, but for example, regarding this photo, I can't figure out what to write as my first impression, or for technical part.

@ Ronie:

Regarding composition.. What is your prime subject here, is it the stream or the whole scene/mood? I think the photo is too crowded, with too many details, trees and branches.
If your primary subject is the river (or even if it isn't), I feel weird about it being cut off on the right side (the bend). If you could get a bit lower and to the right, to include the whole bend and less of the ground on the left, you would have the river as a main focus point and also eliminate some of the distracting branches. It is a bit tilted to the right, but it's good that you placed the "horizon" on the upper third. Just my opinion of course.

[karen_s]

I like the format so I'll give it a try ...


i. First Impressions: It looks like it was a beautiful winter day ... cold enough for a snow yet warm enough for a nice hike. I got a nice feeling from it, probably because I do a lot of hiking in the winter.

ii. Technical Recommendations: DItto your instructor.

iii. Creative Suggestions: While my first impression was good, I didn't go much farther as there is no real clear subject beyond that. It's still a keeper in my opinion though. I've taken some shots like this and not even gotten a first impression out of them. I find these kind of pictures rather difficult when finding a subject to draw attention too. As you walk, try to find something that really sticks out, like a giant tree along the edge, or a really great curve of the water or something that looks out of place or is unexpected. One other suggestion I would have is if snow is falling, experiment with slower shutter speeds. (You may need a tripod for this though). Faster shutter speeds freeze the snow into tiny white dots while slower speeds will create little white dashes with direction. The dashes can give more clues to the viewer as to what it was like on your walk. Also, while probably not a great idea for this shot, you can also experiment with smaller depths of field, like 2.8ish. This can create a depth by making some snowflakes sharp and clear and some flakes 'bokehtized', or big and blurry. And I agree with getting lower when you can. it just helps the viewer to be pulled in.

Hope that gives you some ideas to play with.

[bruceliv]

This is an attractive picture, but I feel it does itself in. The composition is too busy. I believe you should get more "into" your landscape in order to isolate more of a true subject that will be the main focus and, therefore, draw the eye. Unfortunately, this image makes my eyes jump a lot -- not very pleasant. The comment above re: opening up the iris for less DoF is a good suggestion to try, In fact, on an assignment like this, I'd recommend carrying a tripod so when you get to your venue, you can concentrate on bracketing and experimenting with many combinations. A ND filter would also help to slow the shutter down for better snow flakes.

There's one more technical problem. In a high contrast subject like this, once you isolate your subject, some shadow detail would improve the image, e.g. details on the bark of the trees. This might have been possible through you b&w conversion by carefully adjusting the color channels.

Keep working, enjoy, and post again.