I've always wanted to have a small portfolio of sky only images and is one of the projects that I have in the back of my brain. I didn't want it to just be typical pretty sunsets either. There has to be something artistic, painterly about it. I think this might be my first entry into that set.
I have a few ideas for different portfolio sets. Some of them with no images at all yet! Some with only a couple. But the ideas are there and it helps me expand my eye for totally different kinds of images and things to do on days that present a usually "there's nothing to do in these conditions" type of attitude. If the ideas are just in the back of my mind instead of me pushing them forward, it leaves me then the freedom to just go out and see what the day is offering me.
There was actually quite a spectacular red sunset on this evening. My images of that were actually a little disappointing. Only so because the images failed to capture the magnificence of that sunset. And, as happens so many times, for every one that is disappointing, there is another from the shoot that comes alive.
Boulder, Utah, USA
Please feel free to leave comments and critiques but please no badges and blinking lights.
© Ali Shokri / www.alishokri.com, and 3 other people added this photo to their favorites.
© Ali Shokri / www.alishokri.com 43 months ago | reply
Great sky colors, thanks
Lissa** 43 months ago | reply
Technical Execution: 5 = Average
The aperture is right for a landscape shot, but maybe this was taken handheld? There is no crispness to this photo and I was thinking that maybe it was due to the longer shutter speed while handheld. I actually prefer this photo at smaller size because the striations in the clouds are crisper and more pronounced. The exposure is good enough, there is nothing blown out. I might have underexposed it a little in order to bring out the more vibrant colors in the bottom portion of the frame.
Visual Composition: 6 = Above average
I really like the way that the clouds are layers to follow the rule of the third. I see what you mean about the sky being "painterly", and I like the shapes and the soft colors of the different clouds.However, I think a little more shape to the clouds would have made this a more interesting photograph to look at. It is hard for me to keep my eye interested here.
Artistic Value and Creativity: 6 = Above average
I don't think that this photo is anything that I haven't seen before. Because it focuses on the sky, I do think this is a notch above a "typical" sunset shot. But there is nothing here that elevates it up to another level. Once there is a series of these, I think you will have something. See my next comments.
Personal Impact: 7 = Good
I think this is a photo that really needs to be viewed in the context of other sky photos. As a stand alone photo, it is a little on the boring side. However, in the midst of other shots of just skies, maybe darker more violent skies, or more vibrant sunsets, this would be a welcome, subtle, tranquil stopping place for the eye. So I think you should keep going with your portfolio idea, but this one would not be the lead image, but rather ones of the ones in the middle.
Total Impression: 6 = Above average
(generated by the critique template)
♥Newzy♥ 43 months ago | reply
Wow....
This is a sensational Sky!!..Seen in:
*sensational sky...looking up!*
Sean Kemp: Wild Open Landscapes 43 months ago | reply
That is a wicked sky!
tonmoySaha 43 months ago | reply
Technical Execution: 6 = Above average
i like the gradation of colors here.. the fusion of blue and white, blue and pink, pink and white.. thats what makes this image work for me. i dont know i never saw such a sky before with naked eyes so dont know if this is manipulated or not but yes this seems new and different to me and is very well done too. not a wow or awesome capture but yes does kick start the project in a good way if you can continue with the portfolio :).
Visual Composition: 7 = Good
i like the colors and the way they are mixing,, it does look to me like a painters color pallet to me with the three colors pink,white,blue fused in a very beautifull way.
Artistic Value and Creativity: 7 = Good
i will call it a good attempt coz just a blank sky does need lots of efforts from the photographers part so that it can leave an impact. though it doesnt do any wow thing to me.. but yes this has got potential i must say. and i can see this as a very well deserved part of a sky portfolio you are talking about. this is indeed dramatic and very artistic.
Personal Impact: 6 = Above average
hmm good but nothing that drops my jaws.
Total Impression: 7 = Good
(generated by the critique template)
johnny onion [deleted] 43 months ago | reply
Technical Execution: 10 = Perfect
I don't really think it's appropriate to provide a valid "technical execution" critique on an abstract photo such as this. Because there are no standards. Beyond saying that your D300's sensor appears to be dust free, the lighting, exposure, focus, noise, saturation, etc are what they are because (I assume) that is how you think they best convey the mood of your light painting. But since I'm forced to award a score, I will err on the side of assuming that you got it just the way you envisioned it: 10.
Visual Composition: 9 = Excellent
Again, the usual standards do not apply here since this photo os highly abstract. I will say that the choice of keeping the dominant clouds oriented in a "horizontal" plane relative to the frame of the photo is pleasing to the eye, and I applaud your inclusion of some diagonals in the upper frame and the pink at bottom, which help establish the horizon and lend just a bit of familiarity to the scene.
Artistic Value and Creativity: 8 = Very Good
I really don't think you've hit upon a novel idea here. We've probably all taken shots like this, or at least had the urge to, at some point in our lives. But I like the fact that you've taken one of the most mundane and over-photographed subjects in the natural world (the "ooooh, look - what a pretty sky!") and had the courage to show it as a blurred, textured abstract rather than attempt to wow us with some huge, cinematic, blood-red storm cloud cluster a-la Peter Lik. In that sense, your photo invites the viewer to ignore the fact tha he's looking at clouds, and instead allows the eye to ignore familiar cues and just gaze upon shapes and textures and forms, for their own sake.
Personal Impact: 8 = Very Good
The more I look at this, the more I'm drawn in. It grew on me. It's soothing. It makes me want to go find my Brian Eno CDs
Total Impression: 9 = Excellent
(generated by the critique template)
H o g n e 43 months ago | reply
I nominate this image for this week's pool contest.
gregor H 43 months ago | reply
I nominate this image for this week's pool contest.
NWPhotoGuy 43 months ago | reply
I nominate this image for this week's pool contest.
Lightspectral | mostly away on Ipernity 43 months ago | reply
A wonderful Idea... and execution.