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Thread: Minimalist Monochrome: Five trees on a ridge

  1. #1

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    Minimalist Monochrome: Five trees on a ridge

    I don't think this minimalistic style could become a favorite for me, but I do like it and it seems to be the best way to make the totally flat light and plain sky attributes rather than the opposite. Your thoughts?


    Minimalist Monochrome: Five trees on a ridge
    Last edited by Mike Buckley; 9th October 2013 at 12:12 AM.

  2. #2
    FlyingSquirrel's Avatar
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    Matthew

    Re: Minimalist Monochrome: Five trees on a ridge

    Hi Mike,

    While, personally, I am not particularly moved by this photo, I can tell you that I'd like it much more if at least the top 1/2 of the sky were cropped off. I realize that may not be what you are going for, but for me it's an improvement. That brings the details back into the photo since you are viewing more of the landscape and less of the blank sky. Just my opinion.

  3. #3

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    Re: Minimalist Monochrome: Five trees on a ridge

    Mike;

    I too have been experimenting with a minimalist approach and it is a lot more difficult that it looks. It does seem a good way to make good use of flat lighting.

    I like the composition but it feels as if it should be a bit wider (maybe a 16x9 crop and lose some sky) or try a square crop with just the three trees and if necessary lose a but of the sky and maybe brighten the whites a bit (so the sky is almost blown) to make things pop a bit more? My recent experiment with similar lighting the latter made a big difference in the presentation.

  4. #4

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    Re: Minimalist Monochrome: Five trees on a ridge

    Thank you to Matt and Shane for your comments.

    I think there are two fundamental issues at play here. The first one is that I set up the image to include the vast amount of plain sky and one that is not particularly bright. Considering that that is how I envisioned the image, I'm having a difficult time deciding to abandon those apsects.

    The second issue -- surely the more important one -- is that this style of outdoor photography is not what I pick up the camera to do. Rather than looking for a scene like this, I came upon it wishing that there had been different light. I was trying to make the best of a situation that I didn't really like when I probably should have put the camera away and simply enjoyed a conversation with my wife. This type of photography (as is true of all types of photography) is better left to someone who is strongly compelled to make it happen.

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