constable-esque??

I really like this image I took a week or so ago, reminds me of a ? constable painting?




comments and critique welcome.

Nice framing!

Yes very constable.. the subdued colours etc are very reminiscent of his work

Not directly related to the picture, but I find it extremely difficult to offer any critique when someone says this.

It's always a bit of a worry phrasing things in such a way as to offer an honest opinion without risking hurting someone's feelings.

But if you already know that they really like it, it's a lot harder still.

Still... be that as it may, I think the picture itself is too subdued, since on my monitor at least, the bottom corners have very little visible detail. A levels adjustment is enough to solve that without making it overall artificially bright.

I can see it as reminiscent of Constable though.

I understand what you mean Chris, but i wouldn't put up any of my worst pictures.

How about this one then, tell me if I like it or not.


[/img]

"Yes M'lud.........as I strolled down the country lane on my usual beat I came upon a man who had parked his haycart right in the middle of the haywain, I proceeded to take out my notebook and pencil and record this dastardly deed as a means of visual evidence to the aformentioned misdemeanour"

Constable.



Nice pic

I can see what you mean by a Constable-like quality to the lower part of the image, but to really fit the profile it would need to be landscape format and have a sky full of broiling clouds.

A haycart would also help.

.. talk about setting someone up.

OK, in for a penny.

I would hazard a guess that you were a bit disappointed with it.

If it was mine, it would be one of those "almost but not quite" photos. Some good ideas, but none of the elements quite has the impact I would have hoped for when I saw it in the viewfinder.

Sky not quite interesting enough, cow not quite detailed enough, foreground and tree-line not quite sharp enough, curve of the horizon itself not striking enough.

I have gazillions of shots in the "almost but not quite" category.

Actually, I really like it!, but I don't know why.

thanks for telling me how bad it is.

Um..... Constable did a tad more than paint hay carts in landscape format.

Thank goodness. But look at the clouds...

I'm glad you chose that particular painting because I've always felt that the figure lying down looked pasted on. Very artificial. Is that just me, or does anyone else see it too?

Perhaps Constable was into Photoshop...

you're right of course, the clouds are awful. there was a heavy mist that day, i tried moving the clouds a bout a bit, I even got a long stick and tried stirring them up a bit, but they settled by the time i got back to the camera.

What was I thinking of, I'll never be an artist. I appreciate you taking the time to point this out John. I'll hang up my camera for good.

As for the boy lying down, he's trying to empty the pool of water after his mum made a particularly salty shepherds pie the night before. he's not been photoshopped because constable would never stoop to using such blatant unartistic tools. he was an afterthought though, but constable had an artistic licence to allow him to do such things.


..... and I was teasing about hanging up my camera.

Well that's all that matters then . For heavens sake, we do it for our own enjoyment, at the end of the day.

Well, smilies noted, but I didn't think it was bad. I think it's almost good, which is different entirely. You might think I'm just damning with faint praise but that's really not my intention.

'Almost good' means that the ideas were there, the execution was there, just not quite with the refinement needed to produce something really good. But that's good news, not bad. It's just refinement that's needed.

Anyway, what do I know... you don't need to pay any attention to me

Incidentally, I thought the first one was much better, and once I could see it, I did quite like it. As I said, a bit of levels adjustment brings it up without losing the moody, subdued feel overall.

[quote="ChrisA"]Thanks for the input Chris, I'm just in a teasing mood.

The first picture was taken on a really dreary day, I always shoot raw now, but using LightRoom, the colours have been boosted quite a lot.

here's the original (in jpeg format), I metered for the sky and went a stop or two under, hoping I could reclaim detail and colour in lightroom.

That looks more like a Sargent than a Constable.