Spring stream pano

[Bobobird]

I suck at landscapes (everyone knows that ) but do keep trying.

This one is a 12 shot pano taken at 70mm and stitched in PS6. The end product turned out at 80"x22". They do get big.

Would really like some c&c on this try. I want to get better at landscapes.

Maybe a b/w?

Thanks.

(click image for larger view)

[Donald]

Bobo

For me there are a couple of things that I think are worth considering on this:-

Firstly and most significantly, I'm seeing two pictures rather than one. That larger rock in the middle,centre is the dividing point for one picture that is made up of the right-hand half of what we see and the other is the left-hand side. As a whole, I'm not seeing a clear focal point that grabs my initial attention. My eye starts wandering immediately it alights on the image.

The other thing (and I don't know what folaige looks like in Ontario at this time of year), the foliage, including the mosses growing on the rocks, looks over-saturated. I apologise if that is how it really is (we're not used to such vivid colours here in Scotland).

[FlyingSquirrel]

Bobo, it's a nice image of a beautiful location. To get on to my comments:

Agree with Donald, there is that "centered" boulder which seems to divide things a bit. Luckily there are the larger boulders at left which reduce the effect of the centered stone somewhat, though it still is a slight distraction.

While this is a panorama, I personally feel like there is a little bit too much going on with the composition. Not necessarily that there is too much in the photo, but that the composition and flow doesn't direct my eye properly. There is kind of a linear thing going on where my eye starts in the center and darts to the right side of the photo where the wider open water is flowing. Then I jump to the far left and see the big boulders.

A lot of times for landscapes, it is helpful to have some kind of foreground anchor point and get some kind of main line through the composition to lead your eye in a flow, if you will. Although the game changes for a panorama, I think it is still possible to do that kind of composition. At the least, I'd try to have the water flowing into the foreground in the center, as opposed to over to the right side of the photo. I don't know what it was like on location, so that may not have been possible.

Last thing, is it seems overly contrasty for my taste.

That said, it's a valiant effort and still a really lovely image that I enjoy exploring!

Hopefully my review is not too harsh

[Bobobird]

Now that you guys mention it - it is indeed 2 pics. How did I miss that....

Thanks for the input. No not harsh by any means. Without such comments I would be going nowhere.

I am going to leave this as-is but have taken on board what was said and try to apply that to the future - not that I shoot much landscapes. hehe

Would add this was not Ontario. About location - the only thing that prompted me to shoot this was on first seeing the stream and the rough waters was that I wanted to get it all hence the pano. I sat down on a low rock, submerged the tripod into the stream to get a lower perspective and fired away.

I did have a niggling feeling at the time that 70mm was not going to quite cut it given my location and proximity of the stream.

[Mike Buckley]

I agree with everything that has been written except that nothing appears overly saturated to my eye.

Considering that the image file is so large, you might want to crop it roughly in half and go with the photo on the left. It will still have far more detail than 99.9% of all photographs. That part of the image really is gorgeous.

[NorthernFocus]

I'm no landcape artist myself. But that doesn't keep from critiquing others' work I agree with the two images. Another alternative would be to crop off a bit of the left where it is dark and no detail shows. Then crop off the right hand side just about at the right hand side of the green bush at upper center.

It seems like you may have gotten infatuated with the technical aspects of making the huge pano and lost sight of the basics. I do the same thing all the time. Which is why I'm not so great at landscapes...

[Bobobird]

Thanks Mike, I will do just that. Maybe do 2 - one for the left and one for the right. I do like the cascading stream on the right bottom.

Thanks Dan - yes getting hitched on the technical is one of my main issues which hopefully will correct with more failures.

[Marie Hass]

Dear Bobo,

I love your image! I am a sucker for panos that include water. I am by no means an expert, but I do find that if I dodge where I want to lead the eye and burn what I want the eye to pass over, I can lead the eye where I want it.

Nik Collection also has a lighten center option in Color Efex. You can make your center as big and as bright and what shape that you want. The other option is to do a vignette and adjust your center.

I am on my laptop and cannot show you what I mean, but this image had tons of potential.

Marie

[kdoc856]

Agree with the crop. Contrast is so subjective and I tend to like more than most folks- I love it the way it is here. The saturation is a touch jarring to me also, and I would try just bring down the green luminance a smidge. Lovely shot.

[Bobobird]

Thanks Marie and Kevin. Advice taken on board.

Could not just drop it considering all the great advice offered.

I agree with Donald that there are 2 images here due to the 2 very different foregrounds on the left and right.

Redos as 2 panos. I think the eye is led better but will drink up any further comment/advice/stones.
Click for larger view.

2a.


2b.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Hi Bobo,

I can't say why, but the first one (2a) doesn't really work for me. It might be that I feel like too many things are competing for visual attention...?

On the other hand, 2b is exceptional; I really enjoy looking at it. Very nicely done! It works for me because there is a balance going on between the boulders at left and the foliage at right, there are nice foreground elements to keep it anchored, and overall the flow and angles tend to bring your eye in one direction. I wish I were there now!!

[Bobobird]

Thanks again Matt for dropping in. Yes you are very right. I just did 2a for completeness. At first I thought the stream ripples at the bottom were cool but turned out hard to reinforce in pp without making everything too garish.

2b - I really really like now. Of course, I never saw that until you guys pointed it out.