Critiques

vjmite (1529) 2009-11-06 23:20

Hi Jeff,

You had great light for this photo, as well as a magnificent view. The sky is particularly striking.

It looks like you have used a contrast mask, producing the halo effect around the middle ground hills. I use the burn tool to darken these haloes, applying it to the mask rather than the original.

Cheers,
Vince

vjmite (1529) 2009-11-06 23:12

Bonjour Vincent,

Your autumn photos are brilliant. This photo shows bold colours and interesting patterns in the water.

Vincent

vjmite (1529) 2009-11-06 23:10

Bonjour Vincent,

Well composed photo with wonderful colours and reflections.

Vincent

vjmite (1529) 2009-11-04 3:11

Hi Ian,

A picturesque spot, and a nice high point of view. The photo could be sharper, but this might be because it's a scan.

I see there is some discussion of where this waterfall is. The reason is because there are two falls with this name. This is Dangar Falls, about 2 km north of Dorrigo. There is a Dangars Falls south of Armidale, but that fall is much higher than the one in your photo (it's about 120 m high) and it drops into a huge canyon. You can check them out on Google Earth.

Vince

vjmite (1529) 2009-11-02 17:37

Hi Lisa,

You've done well considering the conditions. I prefer the colour of your original photo - it looks more realistic to me. The high ISO leads to noise in the image (just as in film cameras - funny how digital cameras seem to replicate every shortcoming of film cameras). So you have to use the lowest ISO you can get away with, which means the longest exposure time you can manage. It helps if you can find a place to rest the camera on, and if your camera has anti-shake mechanism.

Some clarifications: the limestone that the caves are dissolved out of is 430 million years old, but the caves are 300 million years old. The limestone was deposited in the sea, then over the next 130 million years it was buried by more rocks, folded and cut by faults, then uplifted and exposed as land, and only then did the caves form. The caves have not been carbon-dated (that only works for things that are less than about 50 000 years old), but were dated by K-Ar dating. Jenolan caves are the oldest known caves in the world by a long shot, probably 200 million years older than any other dated caves. I think the words you are looking for are stalactites, stalagmites and helictites.

Sorry to be so pedantic, but I'm a geologist so these things are important to me.

Vince

vjmite (1529) 2009-10-31 0:52

Hi Doug,

The low point of view really works here, emphasising the rocks and snow and reflections in the lower half of the photo.

By the way, I think you will find that this is Lake Louise, with Mt Lefroy and Mt Victoria in the background.

Vince

vjmite (1529) 2009-10-31 0:29

Hi Andre,

Magnificent colours and sharpness. You were there at the right time to get the amazing sunset colours behind the temple silhouettes.

Vince

vjmite (1529) 2009-10-29 5:18

Bonjour Christophe,

This is a spectacular photo, perfectly exposed and well composed. The irridescence in the cloud on the left adds even more interest. Where was the photo taken? I think I see Mont Cervin on the left side of the photo.

Vince

vjmite (1529) 2009-10-29 4:52

Hi Latiff,

The colours and sharpness are fantastic. You have chosen a perect spot to view the mountains and glaciers.

vince

vjmite (1529) 2009-10-24 19:59

Hi Matt,

A good idea to feature the big branch in the upper half of the photo, with its interesting textures. Have you considered distorting the image to straighten up the buildings on the right? The wide angle view tends to increase the parallax effect.

By the way, 10C is pretty cold even for Melbourne in July, unless that was the temperature early in the morning.

Vince.