Winter Woodlandby
SteveZComment by emorgan49: Hello from the Critique Club. This view could have been taken out my back window so I am partial to it. I didn't vote on the landscape challenge so I can only give you a score on hind sight. I think it is a five, which is an average score. Looks like a lot of people agreeed with me. It has the makings of a great picture but it fell short.
I love the colors in this photo. (Someday I'll ask you how you do it because all my snow is blue.). It is halfway between a sepia and a black and white. You made a wise choice to leave it in color. The almost monotone adds to the feeling of quiet and remoteness. No man made colors here. The slightly pinkish tone makes it feel like twilight is approaching. It is the white, however, which ties the image together, the white patch of sky mirrored by the white foreground snow and all snowy branches linking them visually. The two birches in the front are nicely matched in color.
The composition is good- Maybe too symetrical? I don't think so. The symetrical left right arrangement makes a seductive tunnel in the middle. It sucks the viewer right into it. I can almost feel the whoosh of movement as I go into the scene. And what is at the end of the tunnel? Nothing but more trees, as it should be. I like that there isn't a light spot or a clearing or anything at all in the central point, even though the viewers eye is drawn there. There is an effective use of the rule of thirds here. Both birches are in the thirds position left riight and that elusive "end of the tunnel" is on the up. down thirds line, but centered left right. I like the snow diagonals, the tree top Vs (also pointing to that vanishing point) and lots of V brances. All the upright trunks in the mid ground make a texture that contrast with the feathery tree tops in the back ground.
Howevver! What is the black blob in the middle? I want to get out my snow shovel and cover it up. It is a major blemish. It ruins the color balance, it is too dark. It spoils the expanse of forground snow. It is too horizontal (althought tilted) the only dark horizontal line in the whole scene. It is unidentifiable, people (especially our voters) like to know what they are looking at.
The focus also could be crisper for the scene. Perhaps you meant the soft focus to give a dreamy effect but I don't think it works. I also notice that on your last submission (mr. toothless) you got critisized for over sharpening so maybe you were reluctant to give it a try.
Oh wait! Could that be a downed tree? that nice diagonal line? and the blob is the side of it? Hmmm., now I know what it is, but it is still ugly.
So....get out the snow shovel (or better yer, your clone tool) and cover up that tree with snow. Sharpen up the focus just a little and you will have a WINNER of a picture. It's almost there.
Please remember that this is just the opinion of one person. I'm sorry to be critical because I know how COLD it was out there last week.
Message edited by author 2003-01-24 11:07:17. 
