Photo Critique #117

Photo Critique #117

on Dec 30th 2011 with 11 comments

Friday Photo Critique is our weekly community project, where we publish a photograph submitted by one of our wonderful readers, then ask you all to offer constructive feedback on the image. It’s a great way to learn more about photography, express your viewpoint, and have your own image critiqued!

Quick Ground Rules

  1. Play nice! We’ve deliberately chosen photographs that aren’t perfect, so please be constructive with any criticism.
  2. Feel free to offer any type of advice – composition, lighting, post-processing etc.
  3. You can also link to photographs that you feel offer a great example of this type of image shot exceptionally well.

Without further ado, here is this week’s candidate for Friday Photo Critique!

The Photograph

Photo Details & Inspiration

  • Canon EOS 500D
  • 10mm
  • f/3.5
  • 6 sec.
  • ISO 1600

Took this picture in the area of Tromsø, Norway on Dec. 3rd at around 6:20 p.m. local time. Thanks to the polar night, it was already pitch-dark.
The sky cleared up just in time for a great aurora display and I found that old cabin on a sideroad and seized the chance to capture it with a beautiful beamer in the background. I only did minor adjustments in Camera Raw, such as a better white-balance and black adjustment.
Photographer: Max Greifenstein

Please let us know what you think in the comments – how would you have approached the scene or taken the photo differently? A massive thank you to everyone who commented last week.

The most constructive and helpful comments will be featured on the site. Interested in submitting your own photo? You can do so here!

 
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Rollover to read this author's bio or click through to see a full list of posts by this author.

I was raised in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio. After high school, I left for Western Kentucky University where I obtained degrees in photojournalism and cultural anthropology. I am currently employed by CityBeat, an arts and entertainment weekly in Cincinnati. The work I am doing here is very rewarding and I suspect it will continue to be. I am available for freelance work in all areas of photography.  

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  • bryan

    very nice picture! i really like the composition and the colors are very nice. the only bad points in my opinion would be how dark it is, maybe just a little bit brighter and it would have been perfect. the other thing is you have used iso 1600 so the camera is going to be more reactive to light but your shot is still dark, so to me its just adding alot of noise for nothing. i think you should have kept the iso around 100 or aslo as you could get and went for a longer shutter speed. but then again there might have been a reason for you using those settings, but any way i really like your shot!

    • Ali Yousuf

      May be the only reason behind using such high ISO was . . . Every photo in the Photo Critique section has to be imperfect.

  • Ali Yousuf

    Its too noisy . . .
    And I wonder how it wud have looked if the darks were’nt that dark.

  • http://paulasphotoart.com paula

    I agree with Bryan, subject matter and comp are spot on, very attention graibbing as I see it. The darkness of it draws away from it’s uniqueness. Photoshop would be the way to go, adjusting the exposure of fill light would enhance this wonderful shot

  • Kimberly

    I like the composition of the photo, but what draws my eyes away from the barn or the sky is the background. It is to dark. If the tree line was somewhat brighter it would make for a better photo. I don’t know if I would have used 1600ISO because of the noise it would cause.

  • K

    But you probably won’t capture the stars if you lower the ISO?

  • http://www.philcrean.com Phil Crean

    Definitely go back into ACR and give it about +1/3 to +1/2 on exposure and push up the fill light about 15 – 20…Play with the amounts till it looks ok..
    I’d also give the clarity and vibrance about +10 – +15.

    Super shot with lots of potential.

    Phil

  • http://www.konraddwojak.com Konrad

    Hi! Great picture! I think the composition, the angle and the wide-focal length are perfect match here. However, the image in my opinion is too dark – both the sky and the bottom part. I think it could easily be fixed with having 12s exposure. Other than that, I love the pic!

  • http://persefer.deviantart.com/ Ozan Dikerler

    I loved the composition, may be because of your lens choice. I would like to see more sky so you ma try this as vertical. You have a tripod so you had to use advantage of it + downgrade ISO and set exposure longer.

  • Max G.

    Thanks for your criticism! The reason, why I used ISO1600 for that shot (and all the other shots) was that I had to be fast. The northern lights were moving and dancing and I didn’t want to miss any shots and they actually caused to much motion blur with a longer shutter speed :) I’ll give ACR a try, let’s see how it’ll look like as little brighter version.

  • http://blog.stephenemlund.com Stephen Emlund

    I love the color and the distortion of the building on the left. The angle of the building really serves to direct the eye to the northern lights. I think it could use a bit of an exposure boost in ACR – maybe reference the histogram as you raise the exposure.

    I agree with Ozan that it might work as a vertical with a lot of sky/stars in the image. Or to keep it horizontal, maybe angling the camera up to crop off the building where the right side of the roof ends (right below the bottom window).