in morning lightby
frumoazniculComment by e301: from the terminal lounge of the Critique Club
There's a very strong sense of place, of time, and of mood to this shot; which is, really, faultless in it's execution. The process from rear of image to foreground, the increasing contrast, is an effective and often forgotten means to give depth to an image without resorting to the simpler effects of shallow depth of field. I wonder if it's that factor that gives me slight reservations about the extreme foreground - the fact that the drift out of focus there presents a contrasting approach to communicating depth in the image? Given the lovely subdued detail of the background, I wonder if that touch more of similar textures in the foreground might not make the entire shot more harmonious? It may seem like a minor point, but I think it may have a subconscious impact ...
That same factor comes into play when considering the composition as a whole. It works well for the square crop - you've used the strong diagonal with that shaft of sunlight very cleverly to work both with and against the grouping of the cows - I note the way the two cows that echo each others' positions occupy the centre-left two thirds, and the top line of animals occupies the upper third. However the curve of the line formed by the cows' heads, and the end-point of that diagonal of light, brings quite a bit of attention to the bottom left of image, which is where your depth of field runs out - again, re-inforcing that slight sense of disappointment that the detail is lacking there. Obviously, the tetures of those grasses is not the point of your shot - but your composition makes it quite important, and a strong part of the means of keeping the motion of the viewer's eye moving through the image.
Your processing seems pretty competent - little to criticise there. I would guess that there was a trade-off between keeping that lovely sense of haze and the levels of contrast, and likewise keeping the warm feeling versus that sense of false colour-temperature. I would have tried a warm-toned mono version, I think: that would keep that sense of mood, and perhaps negate the slight sense of false colour in the grass. But those are experimental suggestions, and I'm not suggesting that they would certainly work. Given the wideness of the advanced editing rules, I think you might have generated a touch more impact in the foremost cow - just a pushing of contrast perhaps, something to strengthen the textures of it's flanks. Again, an experimental suggestion.
Of course, challenge-wise, this shot will simply have beeen dismissed and passed-over by very many voters. I've certainly seen cows in zoos - but for most voters, the idea of the zoo is specifically about unusual and exotic animals one mightn't find wandering around just outside your city. Of course, you're hard done-by in that sense; but my guess would be that you weren't that surprised.
I hope a couple of those thoughts are at least useful.
Ed
Message edited by author 2005-07-31 20:56:05. 
Photographer found comment helpful.
