Sunset from East Rock, Branches

Posted by Justin Haaheim (New Haven, CT, United States) on 17 January 2008 in Landscape & Rural.

Third in a series of photos taken up on East Rock in New Haven, Connecticut last Sunday (the others: Sunset from East Rock and Four at East Rock). I've appreciated the great feedback I've gotten on these East Rock shots, but I'd like to encourage more criticism of my work, which is ultimately much more helpful and constructive than praise or affirmation. Please feel free to leave comments of any kind, but particularly I'd ask you to challenge me on the work that I've done and share some of your photographic insights. All comments are very much appreciated.

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Comments (7)

MGarand from Yarmouth, United States

great composition, the contrast of the branches on the sky is very nice and the colors in the lower sky are very dramatic

17 Jan 2008 1:06pm

eddy from Tehran, Iran

excellent I love it

17 Jan 2008 8:39pm

GJC from Kyoto, Japan

I agree with you that the positive feedback is nice, but constructive criticism is also necessary. So: I like this image very much. What is particularly good is the wavy clouds and the wavy branches create a nice pattern. Yet I'm not sure what the image is "saying." That is, a sunset can quickly become a cliche, so it seems as if you're using the branches to help us see the sunset anew. But it seems like the picture hasn't yet figured out what it wants to say or how to integrate branches with sunset into a single, unified image. Am I making sense here? I like the image but I just wonder: what does the addition of the branches do? Are we supposed to feel something (cold? calm?) or see something? To me the "problem" is in the branches. You're right to include them, but maybe a different angle might give us a sense of how to integrate them into the picture's overall story. Enough said.

18 Jan 2008 12:28am

@GJC: Hi GJC,
thanks for your forthright criticism -- it was exactly the kind of response I was hoping to receive, and they were exactly the kinds of things that will actually be constructive as I continue in photography. Your point about the lack of a specific focus in the composition of the image is well taken. I think my shots generally fall into two categories: ones in which I'm working for a specific compositional focus, and others that I just enjoy purely aesthetically -- this shot being mostly the latter. I wonder how a shot like this could be brought into greater compositional clarity. Thanks for writing. I've enjoyed what I've seen so far of your photoblog, and will leave comments soon.

Jaqueline from Selangor, Malaysia

Overall I like this picture.Silhouette of the branches did really spice up the Image.But at the same time, I feel that the bottom of the picture is being chopped off,and it is a little disturbing.I think the results would be better if the picture is being zoomed out more to capture the land.

Just a personal thought. This picture still rocks!

18 Jan 2008 2:22am

@Jaqueline: Thanks for writing Jacqueline! That makes me wonder about other ways to compose this shot that might have shown something different at the bottom of the frame. Perhaps I'll get back to this spot sometime and try something new.