Trout Countryby
jonderComment by CEJ: Hello from the Critique Club!
I have studied your image and have the following to offer:
Composition/perspective - the ratio of sky to land is good in this shot. The water and rocks help to break up the view and offer a few places to focus on. If the rock outcropping was a little lower in the shot, the little extra sky wouldn't hurt. There is a branch protruding on the left side I find a bit of a distraction and could have been cropped out all together or more of the tree included to make it part of the scene. The focus seems a little fuzzy or perhaps a bit of sharpening could have been applied. It appears you are over the water, perhaps on a bridge. It may have been a stronger image if you were at water level. I assume that is a fisherman in the distance, again it would have been a stronger image if he was more prominent in the scene.
Color - the colors seem a little flat or muted. There are a lot of autumn colors present in the scene that are just not strong enough. Boosting contrast and saturation some may have helped to bring these out more.
Lighting - natural light...the left side of the scene is a bit dark compared to the right hand side of the scene. Changing perspective left or right would have changed this and helped to bring it in balance or eliminate it. A different time of day may have helped as well. The sunlight appears a bit hard. Softer light would have helped with the colors (see above).
Challenge requirements - the challenge was for a landscape and this certainly fit the requirements. Your choice shows an interesting mix of elements that provide for a lot to view. The fisherman is a nice added touch.
Overall/my opinion - this is a nice scene that with slightly different processing could be made much stronger. I wish the fisherman was a stronger element in the picture which would have gone better with your title. The image has potential.
Photographer found comment helpful.