“Farm With Clouds” | Landscape Photography

by Marc Thomas

Aaron

Thank you for sharing your work with us Marc, it’s always nice to get a variety on the Professional Photo Critique and you are our first landscape submission. There are several things I think could improve your image. The first suggestion I have is to photograph at a different time of day. I know that 4:30 p.m. in August will give you the great contrast in the blue sky and puffy clouds (especially effective in the black and white conversion) but it doesn’t do anything for the landscape. The landscape looks flat although this is helped out a little by the tonal variations between the light hills and the slightly darker ones.

Instead of using a wide angle, which pushes the background down away from you, I would suggest using a 50mm lens and then stitching the landscape together in post. This is a technique that many of my friends have tried with landscapes and it works to achieve beautiful results. Your use of composition is interesting. The land is such a sliver that it makes the viewer’s attention focus on the dynamic sky. This makes me wonder why the landscape is included at all. As I referenced below, Alfred Stieglitz did a study on cloud formations. He believed that the line, shape and forms of clouds reflected the individual’s emotional state. I think this is a fascinating idea and one that is never overdone.

Your black and white conversion is spectacular. It definitely enriches the original capture. I also looked pretty closely and didn’t find any sensors spots in your sky. Either you skillfully removed them, never use your camera, or are meticulous about never changing lenses in the elements. Whatever the case may be, your sky looked great. In your email, you mentioned you read Ansel Adams. Your familiarity with him is reflected in your ability to capture and represent the various tonal ranges. The zone system is on display here with many variations of grey between your white and black extremes. It’s a fine piece and I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future.

Megan

The most captivating part of this image is the sky, the contrast in the cloud shapes and the sky make for a beautiful and calming image. Your choice of composition and the way you edited the image helps keep the focus on the sky making it the subject. Having the sliver of land at the bottom gives a sense of scale and context. The choice of black & white I find strengthens this image because of the contrast and textures in both the land and sky, drawing attention to shape, form and space. With landscapes the quality of light is a an aspect that can elevate a image dramatically, so shooting at sunrise or sunset is the optimal time. I would recommend in approaching a shoot to aim to capture at those times of day to bring another dimension to your work.

David

Jason

I really want to read more into this photo, but there’s just not that much after you realize it’s just clouds. Even the title “Farm with Clouds” doesn’t offer much more narrative than that. While the literal representation of clouds is achieved quickly, once you’ve achieved it, there’s nothing more memorable after that.

Don’t get me wrong, the clouds look great, but it leaves me as just a stock photo… ordinary. Adding a person or animal can add to the scale of the photo as well as bring a new narrative to the image. It could assist with the grandeur of the sky. The landscape is quite bland to me and doesn’t offer anything to support the sky. I’d almost crop to focus on just the clouds themselves. That could allow the photo to be supported by a bigger project on cloud study. The formation and flow of the clouds would be the visual and the titles of each image could become a stronger narrative of the photographer’s feelings.

Note: Alfred Stieglitz was a photographer from the early 1900’s. Stieglitz did a photographic study of clouds. The photographs were supposed to represent the photographer’s feelings, emotions and thoughts. His, as well as other photographers of his era, were influenced by Kadinsky and believed that colors, lines and shapes reflect the inner “vibrations of the soul.” Here are some photographs from the series titled “Equivalents.”