Covered Bridge

sleist · Sep 1, 2010

Thanks for looking. Comments welcome as always.

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PhotoSteve · Sep 1, 2010

The top image has interesting distortion caused by the ripples, and the deep color saturation of the blue sky contrasts nicely against the black and red of the bridge. That being said, I'm not sure where I'm supposed to look. The focal point seems to be lacking, so the eye is static. If encountering this same scene again, I would ask what I want to be the subject and then compose it in such a way as to allow the eye to move naturally to that focal point. I'd also provide a frame of reference from the non-reflected part of this scene.

The bottom image shows beautiful focus and the scattered light falls nicely on the flower to create an interesting spotlight effect. But I question the choice of subject. This amazing red covered bridge sits in the background like a more powerful older brother - despite its blur - still saying, "Look at me!" If the flower is the subject, I'd change my orientation so as to have it fill far more of the frame and have a more neutral or darker background. As well, the silhouetted tree and leaves to the right side are distracting and tend to throw the composition into an undesirable symmetry.

edouble · Sep 1, 2010

Unique composition of an often photographed subject. I like them both.

sleist · Sep 1, 2010

Thanks for the comments both of you!

@PhotoSteve - very nice critique.

Regarding the top image: I cropped to remove much of the rocks on the border as I felt their brightness was a distraction, but your comments made me realize I perhaps went a bit too far. I will revisit this and see if I can improve on this with a bit more work in post.

Regarding the bottom image: There was some thing that bothered me about this picture as well and your comment made me realize that I did not decide on the subject. The flower really is the subject here and I think a different crop will perhaps improve the image:

I think this is an improvement.

Thanks again.