So, each Thursday, I will post a photo or two for you to critique. Comment with the good, the bad, and the ugly. But whatever you post, make sure it is constructive criticism. Not sure what constructive criticism is? See this post for examples.
Today's photo is from Adam Gerdes (here it is on Facebook). He captured this sunset over New Haven, Missouri this past Monday and processed it in HDR (High Dynamic Range). He is ready for your comments!
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| by Adam Gerdes - click photo to enlarge |
I am on the edge with HDR... I have a love/hate relationship with it. While the sky is beautiful with the clouds forming a pattern that works as leading lines to the sun, the foreground with the trees seem to over-the-top for me... I'd love to see this just "as is" without the HDR and see what it was for "real" - if that makes sense, to get a feel for which of the two looks better. I do love that the sun is literally kissing the treeline, the horizon line is low as it should be, to give that beautiful sky room to breathe... just on the edge about HDR... hmmm?
ReplyDeleteI love HDR, but my tastes are towards the more realistic. This one seems overly purple and overboard on the orange and yellow to me and too sharp. Maybe try softening the clouds. The light on the trees looks too bright, maybe take it down a tad. You might try taking out the jet streak as well, as that detracts from the picture with the line crossing the sunset.
ReplyDeleteCompositionally, you nailed it. The main subject is the sunset, and you keep the foreground in the bottom third, which sets off the top third. The sun is not dead center, and you have great leading lines. Wish this was a panoramic, though, so I could see more of the sunset!