Janice Koskey  

Goatherd by Janice Koskey

October 2018 - Goatherd

About the Image(s)


This is a goatherd in the woods on the Greek island of Lesvos. I like the image because it has a mythical quality but the plaid shirt brings it up to date. I like the busy atmosphere with the grasses, but fear that it is too unclear. I wonder about the indistinguishable animal in the foreground. Is it distracting and I should take it out, or does it add balance to the composition even though it is not a distinct goat? Does the image have enough quality and varied values of black and white? I processed this first in Lightroom and at the end used Silver Efx Pro 2 in the fine art preset. Would you consider this a fine art image? Is it good enough to exhibit? I shot this image in mid day at ISO 400 at 270mm with an f6.3 aperture at 1/1250th of a second.

This round’s discussion is now closed!
6 comments posted

Stephen Levitas   Stephen Levitas
I don't have any concerns about clarity, but you might take out the two animals in the foreground. Yes, I think you are heading for a fine art image. I don't know much about that, but as I have browsed around the other groups, I have seen a number of people take scenes like this and soften the image with various post-processing techniques to give atmosphere and a sense of summer heat to the scene. Then the images get very fine artsy.   Posted: 10/01/2018 14:43:57
 
I don't have concerns regarding clarity either. I agree that you might consider removing the 2 animals in the foreground and perhaps cropping a bit off the right side. The dark tree (I assume it's a tree trunk) doesn't contribute all that much to the image. It does seem to be heading toward a fine art image and I find it holds my interest.   Posted: 10/03/2018 19:33:56
 
  Posted: 10/03/2018 19:41:38
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Thank you for the feedback. Thought I'd just crop it instead of trying to clone out the animals in the foreground. I think the main characters are a bit too close now. Not enough foreground.   Posted: 10/03/2018 19:43:24
Diana Magor   Diana Magor
Sorry it has taken me so long to comment. I've read what the others have said but I'm not sure what you mean by 'high art' When I want something under this heading, I go to Nik and choose the fine art preset, but since updating Ps and Lr, I have lost all my plugins and haven't managed to restore them yet. I had a go at changing your image using an adjustment brush in RAW to lighten the central area and darken the outsides more but I don't know whether this is what you were after. I agree that the two front animals need cloning out as suggested, because then the eye is drawn only to the one figure and his dog.   Posted: 10/19/2018 04:33:08
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Tom McCreary   Tom McCreary
It bothers me that the dog is behind some of the grass. It gives the illusion that you can't get to him. The grass on the man does not bother me. The 2 animals in the foreground are a distraction as already mentioned.   Posted: 10/25/2018 13:49:14