John Kelly  

Field Art Beauty- Storm King Art Center by John Kelly

September 2021 - Field Art Beauty- Storm King Art Center

September 2021 - John Kelly

Original

About the Image(s)

Tech Specs: Nikon D-750 , 70mm, 1/1000, ISO 800. 11:38am. 6-6-2021
While on vacation in upstate NY we visited the Storm King Art Center which features a vast area of outdoor exhibits of types and sizes. The indoor museum areas were closed due to COVID19.
I notices the structure of a large crane-type object in an open field area. However, what caught my eye more so was the gentle flow of the grasses and the tree lined path drawing a slightly curved line directly through the field from left to right. The entire scene seemed to flow with these lines creating a very pleasant scene with the field art (Crane) which I placed in the lower right area of the frame.
The trees in the upper section and the foreground also seemed to follow these same lines.
There was very little editing done to the image. Some cropping of the lower portion and straightening the photo. Some minor enhancement of the color and saturation. I did not want to lighten the tree area as it would take away from the central area of the photo with the yellow grasses. LUMINAR AI and Topaz were used. I welcome your recommendations for improving the photo.

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

Rich James   Rich James
(Group 80)
John, this is all about the greens, from lime, to emerald to Kelly! (Sorry) Nice composition, the left side, with the road and lane of trees, leads the eye over to the art piece. I also like the improvement to the sky. Two things I might mention: I find the fields a bit too saturated and I'd crop out the small, dark tree on the very left edge, it's a bit distracting. Nice job and I love to visit that area sometime.   Posted: 09/10/2021 13:51:45
 
Hi Rich,
Thank you for your review and comments. I would heartily agree that the photo is too saturated and makes it look unreal. I also should have removed that part of the tree. You should never leave half a tree at the edge of a photo.
I have adjusted the saturation and removed the tree in the photo below.
Thank you for your feedback.   Posted: 09/11/2021 09:52:17
Comment Image
Sanat Kumar Karmakar   Sanat Kumar Karmakar
Dear Kelly
You have presented a beautiful image of scape. Very colourful and interesting tree lines and grassfield. The large equipment with people-in-work has added a value to the scape and attracts my eyes. The hills of background covered with trees seems to have blue-cast. The tree line beneath the hills are also more saturated and dark. A little bit enhancement in color and brightness would be, in my opinion, more interesting. However, I enjoyed the view of this colourful presentation. Thanks for sharing.   Posted: 09/17/2021 10:24:20
 
Hello Sanat,
Thank you for your review and comments.   Posted: 09/17/2021 16:52:12
Quang Phan   Quang Phan
Hi John, you are successfully presented to the viewers a beautiful colors that were separated by the path of from the tree and grass lines from the foreground to the background. The colors of grass and trees are the main attractive area at first on this photo to the viewers. The large crane-type object could add more interesting points and caused viewers attention after looking entire image. Oversaturated post-processing was a common mistake when we do post-processing. In my own opinion, it is hard to know viewers impress on the artistic sculpture or the beauty of colors/paths of the field, so my suggestion is to try the technique of using telephoto lens on compressed landscape, focused on the art sculpture with beautiful colors of plans and trees. I wish one day to visit that place to try it. Thanks for sharing the image. It is an interesting place to go.   Posted: 09/19/2021 19:12:37
 
HI Quang,
Thank you very much for your recommendations and insight.   Posted: 09/22/2021 10:31:35
Charles Walker   Charles Walker
John, indeed, you did capture the flow of lines in the trees and grasses. Doing this converted a travel photo into a work of art. I like the placement of the crane-type object. Although some prefer opening up shadows areas, I am with your choice here. My two cents for possible improvements are to crop a bit tighter at the bottom, remove the woman in white, and consider replacing the sky. But it is your work, your call.   Posted: 09/21/2021 17:12:19
 
Hi Charles,
Thank you for your recommendations. I have made the changes and present the edited image for your review. In replacement of the sky I did not want to give it a bright blue tone as it might take away from the main view of the photo.   Posted: 09/21/2021 20:00:22
Comment Image
Charles Walker   Charles Walker
I like the changes. I hope you do too. Good choice for the sky, it is a pleasant summer sky, but not the subject of the photo. I think the crane-like art piece appears more powerful when it is contrasted with just one silhouetted person. So, again, are you happy with these tweaks?   Posted: 09/21/2021 21:34:32
 
Hi Charles,
Yes, I think it makes the photo look somewhat better overall.
I must confess that the photo itself does not excite me in the least. I am extremely anxious to get out to someplace where I can take some more exciting photos, like out west.   Posted: 09/22/2021 10:29:48
Charles Walker   Charles Walker
There is no question that great landscape photos are much easier to capture in great places like Iceland, Jasper, Banff, Zion, Bryce, Glacier, or Denali. Even if you get unlucky with conditions, these places have soul and are worth visiting with or without a camera. I've been to these locations, some more than once. If you need a bit of first-hand info, I'd be glad to provide it.   Posted: 09/22/2021 12:34:12
 
Hi Charles,
Thank you again. I may take you up on information on Iceland as we may be planning to go there in the near future.   Posted: 09/24/2021 19:04:16