tree

by John Rutter
(Whakatane, New Zealand)

I was hoping to capture the mood of the place


When I first glanced this submission I was attracted by the strong colours and the silhouette.

At second glance, I got a little puzzled. And have since spent quite some time wondering, and wondering . . . what is that line across the top of the photo? And why is the cloud above the line darker than the cloud below?

Once I got to this stage of wonderment I’m afraid the initial impact began to wane; replaced by puzzlement!

I’m guessing that there is some glass across the top of the photo. The line could be the bottom of the glass, and the darker sky a result of a subtle tint in the glass?

Or maybe the line is caused by the edge of a filter? Only John can give us the full details (and please do John – use the comments box at the bottom of the page).

My reason for harping on about this is that it illustrates how distractions in photos can really detract from the picture as a whole. Initially I liked the shot, and now just can’t stop thinking about that line – my interest in the picture as a whole is lost.

Aside from the line there is lots to like about John’s photo – strong colours, dramatic cloud (late evening scenes like these almost always benefit from some cloud), and a great silhouette effect.

My only recommendations would be to move the camera up a little so that we get a little less of the foreground, and hopefully capture the top of the tall tree on the right.

I’m also not sure about the pole and wire in the scene. I would prefer to see it cloned out using software as it isn’t really adding to the photo.

I hope these comments are useful, and please John, put me out of my misery – what is that line???

Ed.

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