Reflectionsby
pmichaudComment by taterbug: Greetings from the Critique Club :-)
This is your entry in the 'Water II' challenge. I think it definitely fits the challenge. Your shot is composed nicely, and I think it has some nice interest in it. There is nice form to the various little puddles. I see what you mean about the reflections, very nice, especially with how you've composed the shot, with no sky in it, we just get to see the sky in the puddles, very nice.
I think the main thing working against this photo, to me anyways, is the dof, how the foreground is blurred. I feel my eye wanting to be drawn to the most lower right puddle, due to it's placement in the composition, and because it has what seems to be the nicest reflections in it, but the focus in the shot forces me to look up and left, where the shot is crisper, and unfortunately, due to the angle and lighting, no reflections in those puddles up there :-) Actually if the focus plane were reversed, where the foreground was sharp, and towards the top it blurred out, that might be really cool. A lot of folks with this type of shot would go with a smaller aperture (bigger f#) to get a deeper dof, and catch the whole scene sharp. I'm also wondering if along with the processing you did, maybe a little selective color adjustment could strengthen the presentation? That may be just a matter of taste though.
Another thing that I notice about the shot is that it is not exactly a square crop, but close (630 x 640), and maybe it is just me, but I'm not sure the square crop really strengthens the image. I don't feel it is necessarily detrimental to it, but I wonder how a more standard, like 8 x 10 crop would look? Of course, I don't know what else was around this spot, outside of the frame, maybe it wouldn't be possible.
As one of the commenters pointed out, I agree, I think this subject has great potential, and I would encourage you to explore it further, if that is possible. I understand, you'd have to catch it after rain :-) I would also try and shoot it at varying times of day, catching different lighting conditions. Some nice early morning or late day raking light might be nice. That could showcase some of the textures present, and maybe even catch some reflections of a sunrise/sunset in those puddles!
If you have any questions or comments or anything, please feel free to contact me.
Happy shooting,
taterbug :-)
Photographer found comment helpful.
