Behind the Scene - The Power of Critique
During my first trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park I decided to head up to Clingmans Dome the first morning. Way before the sunrise I started making my way up through the mountains where I was greeted by a really beautiful sunrise but some pretty extreme winds that made it challenging to make photographs. As I was making my way back down the mountain I noticed this scene as I passed by. I made an instinctive decision to turn around at the next pull out and head back.
What did I see that made me stop and head back for this image? There were two components of this image that I felt made it work, the first was the way the trees were backlit and seemed to glow. The other was the way the morning sun was just touching the edges of the two ridges. It was the light. As I spent more time with the image during processing I started to see a story of resilience, hope, and rejuvenation. I don’t see these stories in the field like some photographers do but usually after when I’m processing the image I have time to look for deeper meaning. The way the trees seemed to be reclaiming this once burned area gave me a sense that even through extreme challenges, nature still finds a way.
Initially didn’t process this image. There was a “flaw” that I couldn’t seem to work out. I knew what the issue was but for some reason I couldn’t find a way around it. It was an easy fix but I kept overlooking it. So I wrote this image off as an “almost good” image. It sat on a hard drive for well over a year (this is a great example of why I never delete images that are technically sound). For some reason, while reviewing images this winter I came back to this one. I processed it almost exactly as you see above but the flaw was still present. I liked where it came out but the dark patch at the bottom of the frame kept me from really appreciating the image, and for whatever reason I wasn’t able to find a solution.
Luckily, I have a not so secret weapon for situations like this, it’s called Nature Photographers Network (NPN). If you are unfamiliar, NPN is a forum just for photographers focused primarily on offering critique and helping you improve specific images and your overall photography. It has been such a huge component of my development over the last three years and I’m 100% confident my images wouldn’t be where they are today if it wasn’t for NPN. With this image, in a matter of hours I had a handful of different comments all with the goal of helping me improve this image. These comments came from exceptional amateur and professional photographers. Their feedback was spot on and allowed me to push this image across the finish line. I don’t really have a great answer for why I wasn’t able to see the solution my only thought was that I was too invested in it. I was looking at the overall image and getting stuck.
Posting on NPN gave me two opportunities for improvement. The first was to gauge the response of a knowledgeable group of photographers. If they got hung up on the same areas I was I would know there was an issue and that they would help me search for a solution if one existed. Right off the bat my concern was confirmed but the overall image was validated. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Then came the best pet, I had three different suggestions for how to handle the concerning part of the image:
Crop it out
Clone / remove it
Reduce contrast, brighten it, and warm it
I chose the third path. As much as possible I want to retain the original plan for the image. If I had to clone it to make it better I would consider it, but reducing the contrast, brightening it, and slightly warming that section allowed my eye to continue to flow around the image without getting stuck in that spot. About 3 weeks after processing it I came back to it again and reduced the adjustment slightly to what you see now.
Who knows what the story of this image would have been if it wasn’t for the thoughtful critique of others. Maybe I wouldn’t have edited it any further and it would have just sat on my hard drive. Maybe one day I would have figured out a way to “finish” it. I know for sure though that it wouldn’t be done today. I’ve gained so much from NPN and the time and effort others have put into helping me improve my images. If you are a photographer, I hope you have a group of people that are encouraging you to grow and improve. Interaction beyond likes and “great shot” comments have brought a whole new facet of photography out for me to enjoy.
More images from Great Smoky Mountains National Park:
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