For Your Critique: Image #10 « Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

For Your Critique: Image #10

Angel’s Veil. Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, MT. This HDR was created from a five-image AEB series made with the tripod-mounted Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens) and Canon EOS-1D Mark IV). ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop: the base exposure was 1/8 sec. at f/22. The AEB sequence was +/- 1 stop around the base exposure.

For a greater appreciation of the image, click on the photo. Then click on the enlarged version to close it.
Lens/camera body Micro-adjustment: -8.

For Your Critique: Image #10

The image above is presented for your critique; feel free to praise it or rip it to shreds. All suggestions are welcome. Would you keep it or delete it? Let us know why either way, what you like or what you hate. What would you have done differently?

Over the course of the next two months or so, I will present ten additional images in this series for a total of twenty in all. The last will be followed by several revelations including two major ones.

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Shopper’s Guide

Below is a list of the gear used to create the image in today’s blog post. Thanks a stack to all who have used the Shopper’s Guide links to purchase their gear as a thank you for all the free information that we bring you on the Blog and in the Bulletins. Before you purchase anything be sure to check out the advice in our Shopper’s Guide.

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens. Man, I am loving this lens on my shoulder with the 2X III teleconverter. I also use it a lot with the 1.4X III TC.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV professional digital camera body. My two Mark IVs are my workhorse digital camera bodies.

And from the BAA On-line Store:

LensCoats. I have a LensCoat on each of my big lenses to protect them from nicks and thus increase their re-sales value. All my big lens LensCoat stuff is in Hardwood Snow pattern.
LegCoat Tripod Leg Covers. I have four tripods active and each has a Hardwood Snow LegCoat on it to help prevent further damage to my tender shoulders 🙂
Gitzo GT3530LS Tripod. This one will last you a lifetime.
Mongoose M3.6 Tripod Head. Right now this is the best tripod head around for use with lenses that weigh less than 9 pounds. For heavier lenses, check out the Wimberley V2 head.
CR-80 Replacement Foot for Canon 800. When using the 800 on a Mongoose as I do, replacing the lens foot with this accessory lets the lens sit like a dog whether pointed up or down and prevents wind-blown spinning of your lens on breezy days by centering the lens directly over the tripod.
Double Bubble Level. You will find one in my camera’s hot shoe whenever I am not using flash.
Be sure to check out our camera body User’s Guides here.
The Lens Align Mark II. I use the Lens Align Mark II pretty much religiously to micro-adjust all of my gear an average of once a month and always before a major trip. Enjoy our free comprehensive tutorial here.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV User’s Guide. Learn to use your Mark IV the way that I use mine. Also available for the 7D and the Mark III here.

7 comments to For Your Critique: Image #10

  • avatar Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

    Dennis, Andrea, and David. Thanks for your comments. I have actually created two versions of this image, one with the llc branches and one without. I prefer the one with the branches as they serve to balance the composition, anchor the image, and as Andrew says, give it a sense of place. artie

  • avatar David Policansky

    What a great image. Doing anything more to it seems like a waste of time at best. For sure the twiggy little plant at the bottom left should not be removed.

    David

    Well, we are back on the same page again 🙂 artie

  • avatar Charlie Young

    I really like your HDR image. The tree branch in the lower left of the frame is a distraction. There seems to be some noise in the image. Was it left there intentionally?

    I am not seeing any noise at all, just the very fine detail in the rock. artie

  • Wonderful image design. I would leave it as is. The trees along the top edge of the frame and the main two in the upper left corner, along with the twigs in the bottom left all give this image a sense of place.

  • Hey Artie,

    I agree about eliminating the branches at the bottom Left hand corner. I’d also like to see more deliniation between the start of the waterfall and the background (both are really light coloured). Dave

    It was a foggy, misty morning and I wanted to convey that 🙂 artie

  • avatar Andrea Boyle

    Wow, I love it…except for the little branches on the lower left side of the frame. Maybe they could be eliminated? I find them distracting from the other movement of the picture. I’m feeling they are too static. The upper left anchors the shot even though they are diffused. Maybe reduce the intensity of the brances or eliminate them is my suggestion. I think it is an awesome shot otherwise!

  • avatar Dennis Pritchett

    Hi Artie. I like the image, very artistic, pun intended. I haven’t delved in to HDR as yet myself, but this type of image seems to me to be ideal for that type of photography. I would want to lose that little twig, bottom left, but I love the image otherwise. I’m going to link to this photo from Ephotozine, there’s been lots of discussion regarding HDR on that site.

    Cheers,
    Denny