Winter Scene - good bad?

[lumberzac]

I took this photo last weekend on Chimney Mountain. I was hoping to get some feedback about the shot.
The photo was taken with an Olympus C5060WZ without any filters.
f stop: F/4.0
exposure: 1/1000 sec.
ISO: 80
focal length: 5.7 mm

 

[kmorgan]

I find the snow mound in the foreground detracts from the picture. The rock and mountains in the background are more interesting.

On another note, do you have/use Photoshop? I was looking at your album and I like this picture of the climber with the sun in the background, but it was a little dark for my taste. I opened up the shadows with Photoshop's Shadows and Highlights adjustment (basically like a digital flash after the fact).

Here's the result.



Kevin

 

[Grumpy]

I also prefer the photo with the climber in it. The person brings the scene to life, and provides scale. Plus, people always are interesting to look at.

Insofar as the original picture posted here is concerned … . I do like the interplay of shadow and highlight, and the textures. It emphasizes the clean, isolated nature of the better places we hikers go. I disagree with the observation that the snowbank in the foreground is distracting. To me, the untracked, corniced snowbank is the primary subject.

With that latter comment in mind, I suggest cropping away the upper portion of the frame to a little bit above the ledge where some snow has accumulated. The corniced snowbank then definitely becomes the center of attention. Interest is added as the shape of the snowbank is re-suggested in the profile of the mountains against the horizon in the background.

From there, I have some concern about the blocked up highlights, which invariably are a problem in this kind of a high-contrast scene. Fill flash to illuminate the shadowed foreground might help bring the lighting ratio down to a point where this is less troublesome. Be careful, though, to not overdo it and rob the scene of texture.

As always, some “judicious” sharpening adds real pizzazz to images like this one.

G.

 

[nartreb]

Getting a good exposure on in a high-contrast subject like this is difficult, but the foreground drift is perfectly exposed as is almost all the rest of the scene.
(I think the snow on the horizontal ledge is a teensy bit overexposed; that could be carefully corrected.)
Edit: On closer examination I see that the bottom left corner is blown out too, but it doesn't bother me in that position and in the context of a wide range of shades within the drift.

I love the fact that you've gotten some very interesting terrain into the background on the left; both distant peaks and some nearer stuff. Reminds me of a Da Vinci background.

The composition is creative but I'm not sure it completely works. You've got multiple elements: the drift, the rocks, the background terrain, the blue sky. They all converge at the center: not only do they all intersect there, but the line of the distant horizon, the diagonal line of the top of the drift, and the line of the horizontal snowy ledge all lead there, as does the weak diagonal formed by the right edge of the drift. But the eye doesn't want to stay there. The dominant line is the brightly lit crest of the drift, which leads the eye over the snowy ledge and up onto the rocks, which I don't find compelling in themselves. Maybe if you crouched down and/or moved a bit to the right, the peak of the drift would be visually separated from the rocks and the snowy ledge, and you'd have the drift as your main subject.
To me the unusual and interesting part of the image is the texture of the drift especially near its apical ridge. I think you could increase the emphasis on that and still have the other elements in the background. Your choice of what should be emphasized may vary.

 

[Mark Schaefer]

I like the first picture, and I agree that the cornice is a good subject. I like textures in the snow and find them interesting. As the shot is currently framed and composed, the top edge of the snow leads the eye nicely into the picture, and then somewhat unfortunately leaves us at point without a subject to focus on. With Grumpy's suggested crop that would be less of a problem, and would better place the cornice as the subject. Now if you had a rock climber on the overhang rock, then snow bank would lead the eye to the climber and you might have an outstanding picture with the original frame. Your photo is still successful with some interesting and bold elements. I also agree that the background is very nice. It shows that with a good eye for composition you do not necessarily need a bunch of filters and other complex equipment.

One minor distraction is the small plant underneath the overhang. It disrupts from the strong lines of the rock and snow cornice. Perhaps if you had moved to the right you could entirely hide the plant behind the rock. However, you would probably not have the nice angle on the cornice nor the strong composition you have in this photo. One could remove the plant with photoshop. BTW most photos I see of this type of scenery tend to have many such distractions. You did well to find such a clean composition.

 

[lumberzac]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Based on them I recropped the image. I also eliminated the small tree in Photoshop, but I’m more inclined to leave it in because I feel removing it the way I did is cheating and cheapens the image.

I also took a picture from an angle to the right. While it eliminated the tree under the over hang, the terrain and angle prevented me for getting more of corniced snowbank. It also eliminates much of the middle ground in the shot, which I think causes the picture to loose some depth.

The climber picture was a rushed job that I didn’t think would come out as well as it did. With the possession of the sun, I figured I’d try and get a silhouette shot (which I probably would have gotten if the sun were lower), which was how it appeared on the LCD screen on my camera. It wasn’t until after I uploaded it to my computer that I was able to see any texture in the rock. I’m running Photoshop 6 on my computer, which doesn’t have Shadows and Highlights adjustment, but I found a free filter online called Luminosity 0.1, http://www.sd3.info/pf828/luminosity/luminosity0-1.html , that enables shadow and highlight control.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I am somewhat confused by the image of the climber with what appears to be a pair of technical ice tools AND snowshoes. What's going on here?

Tim

 

[Mark Schaefer]

I also eliminated the small tree in Photoshop, but I’m more inclined to leave it in because I feel removing it the way I did is cheating and cheapens the image.

That's is a legitimate feeling, especially when you have the personal attachment of having been there. It pertains to whether you want a documentary photo that show what is there, or a more idealized/artsy photo that someone else might hang on the wall. One can strive to do both in the same image, but it is not always possible. Both are valid intents, and you are well entitled to prefer the original image with the small tree.

I am glad to see that you tried the other angle while you were there. It is always good to photograph a great subject from multiple angles, various in-camera crops, both vertical and horizontal frames, etc. while you are there. I agree the original angle is better.

As for as the cropping. I think you either need to crop out the last bit of the overhang, or include the full horizontal extent of the overhang. Having just the little bit of the overhang appears accidental.

The cropping does isolate the snow cornice, but in many respects I more prefer the image with the overhang. I find the overhang interesting and it helps to frame the snow cornice. Some of the top perhaps could still be cropped; eliminating just the upper patch of snow.

All of this just means you have a image which is fun playing with. And it answers your original question. It is good.

 

[lumberzac]

I am somewhat confused by the image of the climber with what appears to be a pair of technical ice tools AND snowshoes. What's going on here?

Tim

I was wondering when someone would catch onto that. We were just playing around with the ice tools. We never found any good ice to warrant putting on crampons.

 

[Grumpy]

Cropping definitely improved the original scene posted here. (I'd be inclined to take just a little more off the top to suit my own tastes.) I am leery of removing elements like the shrubbery -- cropping the entire frame virtually eliminates it as a distraction anyway.

Even with the incongruity of ice tools and snowhoes, I like the photo with the climber in it -- the human element appeals to me. That said, I also really like the great textures in the snow in the foreground below the human figure.

G.

 

[darren]

I like the tighter crop of the original photo. It makes the compositin much stronger and makes the snow drift a strong subject. I think the snow drift is a great subject and you did a nice job to recognize it. The crop just really helps make it even stronger. It also eliminates a lot of empty sky. The snow highlights are a little blown out, but considering it is snow on a sunny day, I think the exposure is very good.

I was wondering about the ice tools and snowshoes! It would be a cool shot to get the human in there, but the snowshoes just ruins it for me. Sorry.

- darren

 

[ROCKYSUMMIT]

I agree totaly with Grumpy. I'd crop a bit more at the top on the first photo. Love the depth created with the snowy foreground and distant range. I also like the climber photo a lot. I have a similar shot of COLDFEET actually laying on his back (touching the ground not quite visable), reaching up with hands and feet to an overhanging ledge with a grimacing expression. I guess it's a fun, had to be there kinda shot, but also interesting!

 

[DougPaul]

I was wondering when someone would catch onto that. We were just playing around with the ice tools. We never found any good ice to warrant putting on crampons.

I saw it right away--was just too lazy to ask.

I've done some snowshoeing and some ice climbing, but never at the same time. (On the other hand, MSR snowshoes might be an adequate substitute for crampons in certain circumstances... )

Doug

 

[RGF1]

I l ike the of orginal the guy with snowshoes . good shot and different .