HOME | DD
scotto — Spring Morning
Published: 2009-04-05 09:04:03 +0000 UTC; Views: 3531; Favourites: 205; Downloads: 213
Redirect to original
Description
Sunny spring morning looking over Haweswater from the lower part of Rough Crags in the Lake District.Related content
Comments: 25
I guess this is more a critique - but I tend to do that when I comment... just in my nature. OK - I'll confess to a bias up front in that I've been to Haweswater, and in the morning. Hanging out with a bunch of twitchers hoping for an eagle... er, I digress.
The colours - as always - are great. Use of depth of field is spot on - the background mist fades into clear foreground - sort of unveiling the shot from behind. The two stand outs for me are the strength of the textures and the shapes the main forms. There are a number of strong diagonal lines, mostly top right to bottom left. These add weight to the hillock in the right foreground - everything feels like it falls away from there. This is countered by the sheer mass of the trees as overall figures. But lovely counter point again - the leafless branches and twigs lighten the weight as the eye moves upwards. But contrast in texture moves the other way - the more homogeneous ground to the 'crackle' of the twigs against the sky ('crackle'? - can't think of a better word to describe). But having drawn the eye up, the space to the top right places the distant mountain, to which the eye is drawn, then inexorably back down to the hillock, and around we go again. While that's happening, the strong diagonals cut the scene in two, requiring the viewer to move between foreground and background, lower to upper, and back. The trees in effect have become the landscape - not an added feature, but an intrinsic part.
The one negative for me in what is basically an art piece, is the complete centralisation of the tree. I think if you had managed to keep all these elements, but shift the absolute centre of the shot to just right of the middle tree, you would have had a better balance. But I can see the risk of bringing too much weight to bear on the right, so perhaps you've got the best from what you were actually shooting.
I suspect that if this was a painting, the artist would have shifted the centre (just ever so, and ... ahem ... 'adjusted' the weight that came across to ensure the balance was not off-set. Am I suggesting artists '
cheers
MikeC
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks very much, comments like this are few and far between nowerdays here on DA and I enjoyed reading this. Extra points for mentioning twitchers!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
wow. why cant i ever get amazing pictures like this. it is amazingly beautiful!! well captured as always!!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
beautiful, love the lake really looks great. I'm not sure personally i'd have liked to see the shot without the trees, but then again maybe they add something to it, would be nice to see both heh. Anyway nice one.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks man, I've just submitted another shot this morning of the same view without the trees
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This would be the ideal frolicking spot. It's very lovely <3
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Wonderful scenery and composition. Great work. My 
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I love it! It's so serene and peaceful^^ Very nice
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Very balanced scenery. Peaceful to look at hence that doesn't give me an incentive to post a "proper and official" critique. There is nothing in this photo that bugs me. I can stare at it and just relax.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
the light, the lines and the angles .... nice work man
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This is so beautiful it makes me wanna get up earlie in the morning to watch the sun go up
👍: 0 ⏩: 0