Backlit Backyard

[deveaushawn]

What do y'all think?

 

[mmaria]

I really don't see this photo as an interesting one. Sorry

 

[NedM]

There are too many distracting elements in this snapshot. Lots of unnecessary foreground, seems under exposed, and what's up with the vignetting?!

Notice that I said, snapshot. As I could probably take the same photo with my cellphone camera/

 

[cmhbob]

I'd be interested to see a crop with more of the pagoda shadow and less of the stuff beyond the fence.

 

[AlanO]

Pretty unimaginative photo compared to your avatar, looks like the pagoda position.

 

[Derrel]

I almost like it. I think you saw good, interesting lighting and an interesting shadow, and managed to capture is reasonably well. There's some lens flare which I think is being mistaken for underexposure, and the black point is not quite technically perfect, but for me, this rises above "snapshot". For me, the lens flare in such strong backlight on snow makes total sense, and reinforces the camera-end aspect of capturing a scene with this degree of backlighting in snow.

 

[deveaushawn]

Thank you for the comments folks. All are appreciated.

As usual, Derrel nailed what I was 'shooting' for; the light and shadows caught my eye, so I was trying to capture that. I think one big lesson for me with this shot is to ALWAYS be aware of what's in the frame. I was so intent on capturing the light, I really didn't notice how cluttered the image is.

Derrel, can you offer any advice/links on how to achieve a 'perfect' black point?

Apologies for the vignette. My only excuse is that I'm a n00b and I downloaded some cool vignette presets for Lightroom!

The best part of these critiques is that they inspire me to get out there and keep trying. Hope I don't bore you guys to death in the process though!!!

Thanks again....

 

[deveaushawn]

Better or worse?

 

[cmhbob]

I think a little better than the first, but I was thinking even less of the pagoda itself and more of the shadow on the snow.

 

[Derrel]

I like the original better, since it shows the whole "scene". Black point...well, nudge the slider over to the right a bit so you get a decent black. Not all that much, but just a little ways.