Outback OZby ~Thrill-Seeker

Photography / Animals, Plants & Nature / Landscapes

Glendambo, Outback, South Australia

Critique by ~strangelight Jun 23, 2009, 12:56:45 AM

This is a striking image of a part of Australia that doesn't seem to get photographed often, despite being romanticised as a kind of bleak, brave frontier.

The composition of this piece is particularly appealing. The 'letterbox' widescreen format highlights the trackless and expansive character of the outback, and lends the scene a cinematic feel. The windmill is obviously the strongest visual element here and it well-placed within the shot. However there's some additional interest above the horizon on the left-hand side, and this prevents the shot from looking unbalanced.

The post-processing that you've applied to the shot is both a blessing and a curse, I think. On the positive side, the strong orange colour cast emphasises the landscape's dry, unforgiving character - already hinted at through the utilitarian simplicity of the windmill and the scrubby landscape.

On the negative side, the high-contrast effect, which is so effective when applied to objects above the horizon, has destroyed a lot of the detail in the foreground - particularly beneath the trees on the left and on the extreme right. I would've liked to see a little more detail and subtlety in these areas - or else for the whole foreground to be rendered black, which would throw the viewer's attention entirely on the strong forms silhouetted against the sky.

A couple of additional nitpicks: the light-post on the extreme right is distracting and ought to be cloned out. Ditto for the half-tree on the extreme left.

Anyway, despite my criticism of the foreground contrast, this is nonetheless an image that has a big impact and retains bags of potential.

What do you think?

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