Landscape Is this good or meh?

**MossyRocks** · 01-04-2019, 04:35 PM

So I took this picture and on the 30th and it is a 5 shot HDR.
EV range of +0.7 to -2 with .7 EV steps
I never liked the over cooked look that so many HDR images get but felt that the scene would benefit from it to bring out the color in the sky and not bury everything in the foreground.

When I look at the final image I think it is just kind of meh but everyone else who has seen it seems to love it.
So is it just kind of meh or is it a good picture and I am just not understanding why (please explain)?
I also welcome any other critique but this was the best framing I could have gotten unless I wanted an excessive amount of out of focus tree branches in the foreground.

amoringello · 01-04-2019, 05:04 PM

In the same boat many times. I can see why people like it. The bright gold around the shore lines is pretty cool and rather unusual.
Focusing in on a smaller portion might make take away the distraction of the branches and brush.
But otherwise as far as the over all shot, I too give it a "meh".

Don't feel that is a bad thing. You're thinking critically about your own work.
Of course, it's all subjective and tastes differ.
Normally I put it off to people having to lose nor gain by being honest. It may simply be they have ~~no taste~~ different tastes. :-)

**MossyRocks** · 01-04-2019, 05:50 PM

Originally posted by amoringello

In the same boat many times. I can see why people like it. The bright gold around the shore lines is pretty cool and rather unusual.
Focusing in on a smaller portion might make take away the distraction of the branches and brush.
But otherwise as far as the over all shot, I too give it a "meh".

Don't feel that is a bad thing. You're thinking critically about your own work.
Of course, it's all subjective and tastes differ.
Normally I put it off to people having to lose nor gain by being honest. It may simply be they have ~~no taste~~ different tastes. :-)

So I'm not alone then in my thinking. I just found it strange that everyone absolutely loved it and while I didn't think it was bad I just didn't see it as great.
I happened to be in the right place at the right time to capture the reflection like that and had some time to figure out how to shoot it the best I could. The nice thing with digital is that you can shoot shots that may or may not be meh and it isn't any real loss other than some added shutter wear.

Fenwoodian · 01-04-2019, 06:09 PM - **2 Likes**

.
Are the people who love this photo friends of yours? Are they "Minnesota Nice"? If so, you can't always believe them because they don't want to say anything that might hurt or disappoint you.

I give my wife an occasional photo to post on her Facebook page. She usually would get 20 - 30 "likes" on my photos that she posts (usually the "friends"). One time, for a test, I gave her the worst photo I've taken in years. She posted it and still got 20 - 30 likes. Her "friends" will ALWAYS love everything she posts.

Your photo above is a nice composition, however, to my eye it's very underexposed. Also, I find the out of focus branches in the foreground distracting. The top 15% and the bottom 15% don't add much to the photo, If it were mine, I'd crop them out.

Last edited by Fenwoodian; 01-04-2019 at 06:15 PM.

ccbl · 01-05-2019, 09:13 AM

I agree with whoever told you it was good.

There is something very appealing about the color and shape of the bottom portion. Ironically, since you specifically chose HDR to get the sky, I think it's a stronger image if you crop the sky out or mostly out.

I can see why you say 'meh', but I also really like looking at it. It's soothing and I love how the water looks like liquid gold. I might not hang it on the wall but I'd make it a background on my phone.

niblue · 01-05-2019, 09:50 AM

I think it's ok but would be improved by cropping out the foreground IMHO.

Wasp · 01-05-2019, 12:07 PM

It is OK but not great IMHO. There is no center of interest in the picture. The highlights around the ice are unusual, though. I would crop the picture to concentrate on that.

Tranzistors · 01-05-2019, 01:30 PM

Just showed it to my wife and the reaction was “Wow, nice!”. The reflections are what is noticeable right away and that makes the wow moment. After the initial impression you can start to see all the imperfections of the image, so you are right to suspect it's not going to win any prizes. I personally would prefer less of clouds, out-of-focus branches and ground (could be solved by moving 3 meters closer), higher contrast and darker image would make a more dramatic impression, but my wife said that the darker picture looked more like Mordor with molten metal, so perhaps not. Super ideally you would have some well lit subject on the ice to complete the composition, but that would be a truly unrealistic expectation.

**Rondec** · 01-05-2019, 02:16 PM

I like the colors and that the reflections seem to be leading the eye into the photo, but I agree with Fenwoodian that it feels under exposed and may could use just a bit of cropping.

But photography is about personal vision. The question isn't really whether other people like your photo, but do you like it? How could you make it better through post processing ? What would you do differently if presented with a similar scene next time? I think those sorts of questions can lead one to growth when it comes to photography.

Lake · 01-05-2019, 07:05 PM

My opinion as to why people like the picture but you think it isn't great: It's better to have an average quality picture of a great subject than a technically great picture of an average subject. Crop a bit off the top and bottom and use it for social media!

normhead · 01-05-2019, 08:18 PM

Too much black in the image for me, I like a bit more shadow detail. But I have similar images that I posted. The image is up in the very good but not excellent range IMHO. Buy the way, for sunsets I often shoot as low as -3 EV. Shooting a raw -3. -2, -1, 0, 1 bracket usually gets me what i want. Even with the K-3 the DR is such that I can usually get what I want without HDR. Burn the sky, doge the shadows in post, you might do better than HDR.

This is more what I go for, not a lot of shadow detail but enough to see what's there. I dodge the shadows until they start to look wonky, then dial it back a bit. I haven't shot HDR since my D *ist. Dynamic range has improved a lot since then.

**MossyRocks** · 01-06-2019, 09:54 PM

Originally posted by Fenwoodian

She usually would get 20 - 30 "likes" on my photos that she posts (usually the "friends")

I get that too, it is just with this picture instead of 20-30 it is now over 100 and there are 30+ comments and it has been shared a bunch of times which hasn't happened before. Thus why I wasn't sure if I was not understanding something.

Originally posted by Rondec

The question isn't really whether other people like your photo, but do you like it?

In this case to me it just seemed meh and I really was wondering what everyone saw in it that I just didn't so I could understand.

Originally posted by Tranzistors

out-of-focus branches and ground (could be solved by moving 3 meters closer)

Unfortunatly that wasn't possible. I was leaning over a fence at this point and I didn't have my 200mm with me as I have never found something down there where that was the lens I wanted to shoot with. I had a 300 and a 77 as the nearest to the 135 and the clutter only gets worse with a wider shot.

Originally posted by normhead

Burn the sky, doge the shadows in post, you might do better than HDR

That is where my post processing skills start to fall apart as they just aren't there yet.

It has been interesting reading people'e options on this. I will play a bit with it some and explore some cropping and processing as I still have the 5 bracketed shots that I can tinker with

szs · 01-16-2019, 10:49 AM

Hello,

I like the reflection on the snow and water in the middle, but I don't like the background and foreground. Not much to see there....

Maybe this would work in a square crop, centering on the reflections in the middle. It would probably end up being somewhat abstract, but why not?

Cheers, Steffen

SimonWillig · 01-21-2019, 01:11 PM - **1 Like**

This happens to me all the time. I take a picture with high expectations, and then when I see the result on my computerscreen it appears as okay-ish at best. But other people (who I know are honest to me) really like it (well, sometimes not :-) )

About your picture: as mentioned before there are a lot of con's to it, but it really 'has something'. It could be a still from a creapy movie or something. You could say it tells a story. I guess this is what people like about it.

**MossyRocks** · 01-22-2019, 06:50 AM

I think I need to tinker with it some more, crop it, blend the exposures manually and maybe do some other tweaks. It sounds like there might be something salvageable in it that may turn out really nice.

However I am getting out of the mind set of only trying to take great shots like I did with film and am more willing to take a questionable on and see if something comes of it.

01-04-2019, 04:35 PM	#1
MossyRocks Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2017 Location: Minnesota Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,982	Is this good or meh? Lens: Series 1 Vivitar 135mm f/2.3 Camera: K-3 Photo Location: Minnesota river ISO: 100 Shutter Speed: 1/320s Aperture: F4 So I took this picture and on the 30th and it is a 5 shot HDR. EV range of +0.7 to -2 with .7 EV steps I never liked the over cooked look that so many HDR images get but felt that the scene would benefit from it to bring out the color in the sky and not bury everything in the foreground. When I look at the final image I think it is just kind of meh but everyone else who has seen it seems to love it. So is it just kind of meh or is it a good picture and I am just not understanding why (please explain)? I also welcome any other critique but this was the best framing I could have gotten unless I wanted an excessive amount of out of focus tree branches in the foreground.

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01-04-2019, 05:04 PM	#2
amoringello Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Virginia, USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,562	In the same boat many times. I can see why people like it. The bright gold around the shore lines is pretty cool and rather unusual. Focusing in on a smaller portion might make take away the distraction of the branches and brush. But otherwise as far as the over all shot, I too give it a "meh". Don't feel that is a bad thing. You're thinking critically about your own work. Of course, it's all subjective and tastes differ. Normally I put it off to people having to lose nor gain by being honest. It may simply be they have ~~no taste~~ different tastes. :-)

01-04-2019, 05:50 PM	#3
MossyRocks Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2017 Location: Minnesota Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,982 Original Poster	Originally posted by amoringello In the same boat many times. I can see why people like it. The bright gold around the shore lines is pretty cool and rather unusual. Focusing in on a smaller portion might make take away the distraction of the branches and brush. But otherwise as far as the over all shot, I too give it a "meh". Don't feel that is a bad thing. You're thinking critically about your own work. Of course, it's all subjective and tastes differ. Normally I put it off to people having to lose nor gain by being honest. It may simply be they have ~~no taste~~ different tastes. :-) So I'm not alone then in my thinking. I just found it strange that everyone absolutely loved it and while I didn't think it was bad I just didn't see it as great. I happened to be in the right place at the right time to capture the reflection like that and had some time to figure out how to shoot it the best I could. The nice thing with digital is that you can shoot shots that may or may not be meh and it isn't any real loss other than some added shutter wear.

01-04-2019, 06:09 PM - 2 Likes	#4
Fenwoodian Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,874	. Are the people who love this photo friends of yours? Are they "Minnesota Nice"? If so, you can't always believe them because they don't want to say anything that might hurt or disappoint you. I give my wife an occasional photo to post on her Facebook page. She usually would get 20 - 30 "likes" on my photos that she posts (usually the "friends"). One time, for a test, I gave her the worst photo I've taken in years. She posted it and still got 20 - 30 likes. Her "friends" will ALWAYS love everything she posts. Your photo above is a nice composition, however, to my eye it's very underexposed. Also, I find the out of focus branches in the foreground distracting. The top 15% and the bottom 15% don't add much to the photo, If it were mine, I'd crop them out. Last edited by Fenwoodian; 01-04-2019 at 06:15 PM.

01-05-2019, 09:13 AM	#5
ccbl Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2018 Photos: Albums Posts: 46	I agree with whoever told you it was good. There is something very appealing about the color and shape of the bottom portion. Ironically, since you specifically chose HDR to get the sky, I think it's a stronger image if you crop the sky out or mostly out. I can see why you say 'meh', but I also really like looking at it. It's soothing and I love how the water looks like liquid gold. I might not hang it on the wall but I'd make it a background on my phone.

01-05-2019, 09:50 AM	#6
niblue Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2018 Posts: 181	I think it's ok but would be improved by cropping out the foreground IMHO.

01-05-2019, 12:07 PM	#7
Wasp Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: Pretoria Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,659	It is OK but not great IMHO. There is no center of interest in the picture. The highlights around the ice are unusual, though. I would crop the picture to concentrate on that.

01-05-2019, 01:30 PM	#8
Tranzistors Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Latvia Photos: Albums Posts: 112	Just showed it to my wife and the reaction was “Wow, nice!”. The reflections are what is noticeable right away and that makes the wow moment. After the initial impression you can start to see all the imperfections of the image, so you are right to suspect it's not going to win any prizes. I personally would prefer less of clouds, out-of-focus branches and ground (could be solved by moving 3 meters closer), higher contrast and darker image would make a more dramatic impression, but my wife said that the darker picture looked more like Mordor with molten metal, so perhaps not. Super ideally you would have some well lit subject on the ice to complete the composition, but that would be a truly unrealistic expectation.

01-05-2019, 02:16 PM	#9
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,650	I like the colors and that the reflections seem to be leading the eye into the photo, but I agree with Fenwoodian that it feels under exposed and may could use just a bit of cropping. But photography is about personal vision. The question isn't really whether other people like your photo, but do you like it? How could you make it better through post processing ? What would you do differently if presented with a similar scene next time? I think those sorts of questions can lead one to growth when it comes to photography.

01-05-2019, 07:05 PM	#10
Lake Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Minnesota Posts: 104	My opinion as to why people like the picture but you think it isn't great: It's better to have an average quality picture of a great subject than a technically great picture of an average subject. Crop a bit off the top and bottom and use it for social media!

01-05-2019, 08:18 PM	#11
normhead Pentaxian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Near Algonquin Park Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 40,451	Too much black in the image for me, I like a bit more shadow detail. But I have similar images that I posted. The image is up in the very good but not excellent range IMHO. Buy the way, for sunsets I often shoot as low as -3 EV. Shooting a raw -3. -2, -1, 0, 1 bracket usually gets me what i want. Even with the K-3 the DR is such that I can usually get what I want without HDR. Burn the sky, doge the shadows in post, you might do better than HDR. This is more what I go for, not a lot of shadow detail but enough to see what's there. I dodge the shadows until they start to look wonky, then dial it back a bit. I haven't shot HDR since my D *ist. Dynamic range has improved a lot since then.

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01-06-2019, 09:54 PM	#12
MossyRocks Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2017 Location: Minnesota Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,982 Original Poster	Originally posted by Fenwoodian She usually would get 20 - 30 "likes" on my photos that she posts (usually the "friends") I get that too, it is just with this picture instead of 20-30 it is now over 100 and there are 30+ comments and it has been shared a bunch of times which hasn't happened before. Thus why I wasn't sure if I was not understanding something. Originally posted by Rondec The question isn't really whether other people like your photo, but do you like it? In this case to me it just seemed meh and I really was wondering what everyone saw in it that I just didn't so I could understand. Originally posted by Tranzistors out-of-focus branches and ground (could be solved by moving 3 meters closer) Unfortunatly that wasn't possible. I was leaning over a fence at this point and I didn't have my 200mm with me as I have never found something down there where that was the lens I wanted to shoot with. I had a 300 and a 77 as the nearest to the 135 and the clutter only gets worse with a wider shot. Originally posted by normhead Burn the sky, doge the shadows in post, you might do better than HDR That is where my post processing skills start to fall apart as they just aren't there yet. It has been interesting reading people'e options on this. I will play a bit with it some and explore some cropping and processing as I still have the 5 bracketed shots that I can tinker with

01-16-2019, 10:49 AM	#13
szs Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Morelia, Michoacán Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 126	Hello, I like the reflection on the snow and water in the middle, but I don't like the background and foreground. Not much to see there.... Maybe this would work in a square crop, centering on the reflections in the middle. It would probably end up being somewhat abstract, but why not? Cheers, Steffen

01-21-2019, 01:11 PM - 1 Like	#14
SimonWillig Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Haarlemmermeer (nearby Amsterdam) Photos: Gallery Posts: 233	This happens to me all the time. I take a picture with high expectations, and then when I see the result on my computerscreen it appears as okay-ish at best. But other people (who I know are honest to me) really like it (well, sometimes not :-) ) About your picture: as mentioned before there are a lot of con's to it, but it really 'has something'. It could be a still from a creapy movie or something. You could say it tells a story. I guess this is what people like about it.

01-22-2019, 06:50 AM	#15
MossyRocks Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2017 Location: Minnesota Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,982 Original Poster	I think I need to tinker with it some more, crop it, blend the exposures manually and maybe do some other tweaks. It sounds like there might be something salvageable in it that may turn out really nice. However I am getting out of the mind set of only trying to take great shots like I did with film and am more willing to take a questionable on and see if something comes of it.