Refining an image based on a critique

Moraine Park Burn image with block print effect. RMNP, CO, 2013

Last Thursday night, at our monthly Colorado Nature Camera Club meeting, Stephen Weaver, geologist and pro landscape photographer, gave me some interesting feedback on the above image. As with all feedback from very experienced photographers, I listened carefully. Here were his key points:

1) He had a problem with the lack of detail in the snow–it is all pure white with no gradations of tone.

2) He had a problem with the blacks for the same reason.

3) He thought it was an interesting concept for an abstract.

He was right on all counts. But here’s the thing…my goal in this image was to create something akin to a Japanese print effect. I deliberately made all the whites pure white and all the blacks pure black, or nearly so. You may not agree with my vision, but that is what I was after. Here is the original image so you can see what I started with:

Moraine Park Burn original image. RMNP, CO, 2013

I did try a version in which I left some detail in the whites and blacks–and you can also see the shadows. This could actually be a better idea for the image and it does adhere more closely to what Steve had in mind, I think. Here is that version after some cropping and white balance and exposure correction:

Moraine Park Burn image with detail and shadows. RMNP, CO, 2013

Still, the final “blockprint” version pictured at the top is the one I like the best (although the “shadow” version is growing on me). I like the combined abstractness and the simplicity.

So, when your images are critiqued, listen with an open mind. Listen thoughtfully. Especially if the one doing the critique has been around the block for many decades (as was my case with Steve Weaver). Then, filter what is being said about your image through the vision you had in your mind when you created it. You’ll naturally find some good advice you’ll want to take…and other things you may choose to ignore.

But always listen with an open mind!