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This was captured in the wee morning while driving around the German countryside. The aim was to capture the alps with the rolling fog and the farmhouse to give it some scale and perspective.

I have a few nagging thoughts about this image but wanted to get some objective critique and feedback first before I pointed them out

You know, it's odd: this is fantastic but then I think it is missing something. On the one hand, I think the dark elements are too dark but then I don't think more exposure will add to it. I thnk perhaps a crop from the sides. I think I will conclude that I love it.

Wow very unique fog around the hut!

Perhaps try to crop 10% from below to strengthen the composition to thirds. Also need to pull detail from the upperleft and perhaps consider pulling some shadow detail from the hills etc. PErsonal preference is for the fog to be pretty white rather than gray/

Chris, did you shoot raw? Can't see the exif.

hope this helps.

If you cut it too much top and bottom, it will loose
its appeal. Part of its attraction is the contrast between
the dark and light parts, but I agree you need to light
up a bit some of the dark sides to reveal some details.

I'd be inclined to crop a little from the bottom only That dark expanse at the bottom of the photo doesn't do much for me. It needs some to anchor the photo, but not as much as is there.

I would also be inclined to increase the Fill Light (LR3) setting just a little to bring out some detail in the mountains. But without trying it, this may affect other elements of the picture to its overall detriment. (i.e. try it, but be prepared to throw the change away if it doesn't work.

I would definitely crop a bit off the bottom. I think there i a lot of empty space in this image that leaves you looking and searching.

Mr Darcy wrote:I'd be inclined to crop a little from the bottom only That dark expanse at the bottom of the photo doesn't do much for me. It needs some to anchor the photo, but not as much as is there.

Exactly.

I hate to follow like a sheep but I have to agree with the crop from the bottom amd a lift of the shadows.

I would be interested in seeing the colour version too.

Here is a quick edit. I have chopped a little off the bottom. May still need more. I have increased fill light overall, then backed off the exposure in the sky to compensate. My apologies for the extra copyright. It is part of my default export action & I forgot to turn it off.
As usual, let me know if you want the photo removed.

Also, you are putting photos at 800 wide. While the rules state this as the maximum, I and others find that you get a better result posting a little smaller. Say 750. I think the auto resize cuts in at 800 and while it doesn't change the size, it does change the quality.

I like the crop but I think the fill light takes away from the fog.

I don't think the fill is needed here, and I'd be even a little more intrusive with the cut. I'd be inclined to just have a sliver of the dark foreground below the farmhouse. At a rough guess, I'd only leave about 30% of what Greg's got in his crop.

Reworked it slightly and added more contrast to certain areas around the image. I've cropped it down to a 2:1 ratio.

Really appreciate the feedback everyone.

Much more impact, great atmosphere. Lifting the shadows has revealed just enough detail to add further interest and the crop works so much better.

So what were your nagging thoughts about the image?

I like what Greg's done to bring out more detail in the hills.

Yes. That's much better.

Great Shot!

I love the contrast - it just goes to show, not everything needs colour and vibrance to be a great image.

Love the flow of the mist and the composition, but prefer a point of crop between the original and the last version. However, my eye does get drawn to the light area of sky in the top left and the jet trail.
I do love the mood it conveys.

@Geoff - the nagging thoughts I had about the image were the bottom edges (which is what others have mentioned) and the fog trail and house. I wanted the latter two to be more white in order to cut through the entire image, bringing about an abstractness to the image. When I took this image, all I envisioned were the patterns from the clouds and the fog.

There was another part of the image which had the fog enveloping and circling a group of pine trees, which I think the details will only appear as a very large print. Initially I had brought it out (not published online) but then it didn't do much for me at that point. I may revisit this again in the future.

Chris
A bloody remarkable image! I like your cropped version....but both versions are valid. Pop that image into your 'Fine Art' folder.

I think I just adopted a moniker. I hereby decree my moniker as Chris.

I was thinking along quite different lines.

I think the main subject is the fog and the house but the bright sky distracts from it too much. Maybe make the sky darker but not too contrasty so perhaps include an element of grey sandwich rather than just darkening. May be tricky to get right. The fog could also be a touch lighter as well.

Another option may be to crop down below the sky line and up almost to the shore line, then adjust tonalities to suit.

PiroStitch wrote:Reworked it slightly and added more contrast to certain areas around the image. I've cropped it down to a 2:1 ratio.

2.5 thumbs up

very nice image.