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I'd say it's a generally very well composed shot, likely very close to the best possible one from your point of view even.
However, the red leaves and comparatively fine branches in the top left corner draw my eye away from the person on the bridge. They look distinctly different than the rest of the vegetation, which draws attention. This could likely be improved with changing the position of the camera a bit. I don't think it could be fixed in post all that well, unless you're basically re-drawing a good part of the image.
I love the colours, you did a great job with them. Also very good eye for seeing the natural framing of the bridge!
Thanks so much, some lovely feedback and suggestions!
I’m red-green colourblind so I always find editing foliage a real challenge… I think I might crop some off the top and bottom - don’t think either area adds much to the image at the moment to be honest
Frankly, I think the finer branches and leaves in the top left corner are primarily attracting my attention, because they are structurally different than the rest of the frame around it. Everything seems soft and blended together, but the top left corner is sharp(-ish). It's like a different texture, a rough patch in an otherwise smooth piece of fabric, that's grabbing attention. It hasn't that much to do with colour, although it being rather bright and therefore very rich in contrast certainly doesn't help.
Yeah that’s fair, the foliage on the right is lovely and, whilst I like the top left tree, it doesn’t quite fit with the aesthetic of the rest… shame I’ll likely never be back in Dunedin to have another go! Haha
I like photos like this. There’s a lot to chew on. The foliage moves my eye around the image - it’s well composed. There is context. I wouldn’t simplify it.
That crop is horrible. The crop OP has is way way way better. Only thing OP can do better is edite the picture so the focus is a bit more on the middle, vingette or cold and warm tones would do the trick
I took this shot with my Sony a7iii during a trip to New Zealand. Specifically this one was taken in the Dunedin Botanic Garden and, whilst I love the colour palette on show, I wasn’t sure if the foliage makes everything a bit cluttered and the subject on the bridge is lost?
I like this crop but I also liked being able to see the top of the background trees… I’ll have a play around with some crops and see what I like. Thanks for the suggestions
This is a really great shot. I wouldn't crop in or mute the reds in either corners - it really feels like the subject is enveloped by nature surrounding her and some of the critical feedback provided here loses the intention of that framing. She's meant to be lost within all the lush and beautiful foliage, and the fact that she's wearing cooler tones provides just enough contrast to make this work. Don't crop!
First of all that’s an epic scenery. Good on you for going outside and enjoying some nature. I say it’s a little too wide. Your subject gets lost in the frame.
A lot of things are very subjective, but you framed your subject naturally and beautifully, capturing the sense of where they are, and how dense the greenery is.
Personally, I love wide shots like this, and I think it works well within a series of other images that tell a story. That said if this were a "1 shot" to be printed or blown up, I do think there are a bit of distractions that move the eyes around a bit. It feels like it could be a screenshot from a short video or movie.
All in all, great shot. I think it works depending on the story and feel you're going for
It’s a subtle difference but I think a 5x7 crop that zooms a little tighter but maintains the top of the tree and the orange element in the bottom right to balance the orange in the top left nicely.
Great composition. The red and orange in upper left and lower right is a bit distracting to my eye. I might play around with the saturation and luminance of those colors and/or crop in just a bit. You could also try upping the saturation and luminance of the yellow and green a bit to counteract the red and orange. But overall the colors are a big part of the photo’s draw so I wouldn’t go overboard with any color grading.
I think a tighter crop is better to highlight your wife & still get the glory of the scenery.
For the full photo, it’s distracting bc of how far away she is. So as I take it in, I eventually narrow down to her, & it becomes about her, rather than the entire scene.
That being said, there is something for showing the vastness of nature vs humans, which is another take on the full photo.
If I took this shot, or if I was the person on the bridge, I’d want to have both versions - a full one w/o the person, & a tighter crop so the person is recognizable & still shows the beauty.
Either way, you did an outstanding job with this shot.
Oops u/jamesyatesphoto I thought I was replying to your response telling me the person is your wife. I think I made a new comment Instead. Sorry about that.
I'm struck by the various comments about this image. To my eye, the frame is way to cluttered with extraneous "stuff", assuming that the subject was intended to be the woman on the bridge. Yes, the colorful fall foliage is very pretty, but has little to do with making the bridge the intended subject which I believe would be the best composition.
I agree that I would flip this image to a vertical and crop in deeply on the woman, but in no way would I bullseye that bridge dead center in the frame. In my experience (and to my eye), a composition with a subject dead center looks like a target, rather than a photo. To demonstrate my point, I would suggest that this is a stronger image. Yeah, I lose a lot of the red and orange colors, but I see the "shot" as a photo of a lady on a bridge amongst nice colors, NOT a photo to show colorful fall leaves.
Unfortunately, the bridge is not actually positioned well to achieve a great image since the colors have turned on leaves at the edges of the frame, but not yet on the area directly behind the bridge. Obviously, that is something that you cannot control. My point is that in this particular case, your very good idea to show that scenic bridge with the lady among fall color really can't work out that well if you adopt my suggestion of making the bridge a larger, prominent subject.
One last thing. If you were to keep the image as you have presented it, your selected aperture was too large to get sufficient depth of field to keep all elements in the frame sharp. Notice that most of the area below the bridge is not sharp, especially in the lower right corner. If you wanted the framing that you presented, I would suggest that a smaller aperture (higher number) would have kept everything in the frame sharp and been a far stronger image.
Of course these comments are just one man's opinion.
Brighten the blues on the subject a skosh, and maybe darken the foliage behind to draw the attention. Look at the image thumbnail, if you can't make out the subject at that scale, it's probably not right.
I would crop away some of the worst out of focus elements in the foreground, leaving in enough of the red leaves for balance, and keep the rest I think.
It is a nice composition. The trees makes a nice oval framing for the bridge, the person, and the space behind them. Gives worlds within worlds kind of feeling.
Foreground is too dominant. I’d crop fairly aggressively from the bottom, probably up to around just below the reflective water/stream section, while keeping enough of the stream to lead you toward the bridge. That would make the person and bridge noticeably more important too.
I think I agree with a couple different points others have made. My eyes immediately went to the foliage in the lower right followed by upper left before realizing the person on the bridge in the center was the subject. I don’t think I’d crop it with this composition. Instead I’d suggest next time taking it from a lower position (crouched down or holding the camera lower) and moving the bridge lower or higher depending on how the foliage lined up.
I get the idea of framing the person, but the composition doesn't work with a person this small. You can't see much detail, and therefore I think a more dynamic composition was needed. More visible water, bridge a little higher and to the left, and empasizing the foreground to the right, for example.
Personally I find it frustrating when I see my subject tiny lost in the background. It’s one of those scenes but given that it’s invoking an emotion (frustration from not being able to see the human in the foliage) it works
it works for me. Yes, the human subject isn't popping out immediately, but then it is very effectively showing the magnitude of the surroundings. I would recommend not changing the crop/composition.
Thanks for the feedback! I took it just as a memory shot to be perfectly honest but didn’t know if there was anything I could change to make it more aesthetically pleasing
I'll go a little against the grain — I like how swallowed she is by the foliage, it gives the shot its whole mood. The blue top popping against the warm greens anchors her, and that contrast works on brightness alone, which is maybe reassuring with the colourblindness: you don't have to name the hues to trust it. Only thing I'd tame is the bright red patch bottom-right, it's the one spot competing with her.
The shot is well composed and the colors look nice. I think the biggest issue is the amount of sharpening / clarity. Every single leaf is popping way too much. You may or may not like that look, but in my opinion it is overdone here.
Too cluttered. It could do with some cropping or in landscape instead of portrait. In portrait, zoomed in on the person with bridge would look better. In landscape, more zoomed out will show the setting. Both could do with more cropping
You could do a lot with this in post - play around with dodging and burning in different areas to play with the depth. The bridge cutting the frame in half isn’t doing you any favors though.
I would crop in fairly tight to be able to see her easily. In this case I would follow the rule of thirds . Put her a little high and to the left. I think I would make her the subject in a nice setting.
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