This is a great landscape composition by Diana, taken at Griffith Woods park on the Elbow river looking toward the south east. Here are a few notes on why this is such a great image.
I am going to try to use the TOE system to evaluate this image. The “T” stands for “Technical”, the “O” for organizational and the “E” stands for “Emotional”. Have a look at Deb’s presentation slides which you can find under the “Presentations” menu right under the page banner. I am also going to use standard compositional theory to explain the composition aspects.
You can comment at the bottom of this page, and I welcome differing opinions.
Under the “Technical” aspects:
The colours are subtle, there is enough definition in the sky and the reflection in the water shows soft pink caused by the refraction redirecting some of the light into the water body and bouncing back reduced intensity polarized light. There is a red-brown hazy line at the edge of the forest that divides the image in half. Only a very small portion of the snow is of a pure white value (blown out) if any, giving a lot of remaining detail in the snow portion of this image. This is due to the soft light, caused by probably the time of day, and the overcast conditions. The brown colour of the large fallen tree trunk varies nicely from mid brown to dark brown, giving the tree a three dimensional feel.
The exposure is very good, and virtually no high lights are blown out. There appear to be no pure black areas either.
The image is sharp across the image. No blurring in the left bottom corner.
Under the “Organizational” aspects:
In my mind there are no distractions in the image whatsoever.
The use of space in the original image is maybe a bit lopsided, but that is my personal opinion. (Have a look at the comparison pictures at the bottom of this page.)
The composition is superb, and I cannot find any flaws. More composition analysis further down this page.
Under “Emotional” aspects:
I find the mood of this image a bit somber in that the falling trees represent the cycle of life for me. The dead tree trunk rotting in the water is the final stage, while the leaning trees are falling slowly towards the same fate. The whole scene is softened by the thick layer of snow.
The scene has an immediate strong impact.
The subject is well chosen as it shows all the main aspects of a forest ecology.
As this is a traditional landscape I am not sure if it requires special imagination beyond the recognition of a good photo opportunity.
Score: 8.5 – (4.5 for impact and 4 for technical execution.)
I rate this image excellent, with above average technical qualities and impact
I think the composition is superb with a strong subject and leading lines emanating form the forest base on the left. There is a hint of symmetry in the reflection of the water surface. The forest edge divides the picture in half which gives the image balance. There are also several strong lines that lead the eye back to the obvious subject of this image.
Well done Diana !
Below the original image submitted with a narrower aspect ratio than the images above.
