2019-05-01_Digital_SLR_Photography

L A N D S C A P EE X P E R TAdamBurton

“Lookingat thetitleoftheimage,

I assumethatMasakowaswaitingfor

thetidetoreachtheforeground

boulder.If so,thenthetitlegives

relevancetothedistancebetweenthestoneand

thewaves.Yet,personallyI feeltheseparation

givestheforegroundandbackgrounda slight

disconnect.Forme,thisphotographwouldwork

betterif it weresplitintotwoseparateimages.

Thesoftwispyseaandemptyskywouldmakean

appealingminimalistpicture,whilethestone,

lovelytexturedsandandwhitefrothmakean

effectivedetailshot.Butlookingat theimageasa

whole,thecompositionwouldhavegelledmore

effectivelyformehadthetidebeena littlehigher,

withwavesdraggingbackaroundtherock,

connectingtheforegroundandmiddleground.

Thatbeingsaid,Masakohasstillcaptureda

pleasingimagewitha softdreamyfeeltoit,

helpedbythechoiceofshutterspeedaswell

as subtle and sensitive processing.”

Whatwethink:It'seasytoseetheallureof
compositionssuchasthis;a loneboulder
sittingsunkenin thesandwhilstthetide
swaysbackandforth.Masako'sminimalist
compositionis good,wefeel– at first
glance,theboulderis theonlyprominent
featurebutlooka littlelongerandyou
noticetheseafoamcurvingawayfromit,
andthenthetidecurvingin fromthe
oppositeangle,almostformingan'S'
shape.Theblack& whiteconversionis
effectivetoo,andaddstotheminimalist
styleofthescene.Howeverwecan'thelp
butfeelthattheimagewouldbestronger
if thetidewereclosertotherock,swirling
aroundandinteractingwithit – thiswould
fillthatemptymiddledistance and bring
thecompositiontogether.

WAITING

byMasakoMetz

CanonEOS5DMkIII withEF24-70mmf/2.8LII USM lens.
Exposure: 2.5 seconds at f/14 (ISO 100).

Whyit works

Monochromeprocessingsuitsthescene

Pleasinglevelof motion captured

Good composition

DOGSBYWINDOW LIGHT

byAdeHarrison

NikonD810withNikkor50mmf/1.8lens.

Exposure:1/80secat f/2.5(ISO100).

Whatwethink:Ade'spetportraitproves

thatyoudon'tneeda studioset-upto

achievedramaticportraitlighting– this

wasshotentirelybywindowlight.The

compositionhereis nice– we'renotsure

howmuchsayAdehadin wherethedogs

werepositioned,buttheprofile-angleof

theseconddogin thebackgroundnicely

complementstheangleofthefirst.The

shadowsareverydark,however– we

mighthavebeentemptedtoplacea small

reflectoroppositethelight,justto

introducea hintofshadow detail.

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QuickCritique

1)Dramaticlightsuitssubjects

2)Darkbackgroundsimplifiesscene

3)Good, natural composition

ADAM

BUR

TON

May 2019DigitalSLR Photography 49