Approaching Storm on the Monaro Plains

Taken as a spring storm was approaching across the Monaro high plains in S.E. of N.S.W. Australia.
Location
See above
Equipment Used
Linhof Tech. 5x4, 150mm Sironar
Exposure
1/8th sec @ F22
Film & Developer
APX100, Rodinal 1:25
Paper & Developer
Ilford MG 1V fibre- MG developer
Lens Filter
yellow green
Interesting that you've used a yellow green filter. My main use for that filter has been for portraiture, (mildly successful) never thought of it as useful for landscape work. Assuming that there wasn't too much yellow or green in that picture, going on the arid time of the year, do you think it was a good filter or is there another reason it was used? By the way I never knew there was a Monaro high plain in NSW, only ever knew of the Monaro area in South Australia, which one was the Monaro named after, do you know? By the by, I think it's a great picture!!!!!
 
Since there isn't a whole lot going on in the immediate foreground you might consider cropping about an inch or so off the bottom, making more of a panoramic format which would emphasize the cloud movement and the rolling landscape in the background I think. Just a thought, it's a very nice photograph as is. I'm curious about the filter. What purpose did it serve?
 
I really like the feel of this, nice tones esp. I agree that the image might be easier to 'step in to' if it were cropped just a tad at the bottom - maybe lose that horizontal line of light weeds that creates a visual barrier in the foreground, this would also move the worn path more into the bottom egde which I think would be a nicer balance IMO... just a thought. Nice work.
 
I disagree with cropping this image. The roadway leads the viewer into the scene. It's entrance into the print is optimally placed in your composition. Furthermore, the roadway is the single necessary ingredient to the strength of this photograph. The fact that it curves around the hillock and disappears is vital to this image too. This poses the question that begs to be answered. Where does it lead. So many people think that a photograph must tell a story...to impart information that they fail to grasp the uniqueness of a photograph that asks questions.

I commend you on your sensitivity and photographic accumen. Good work.
 
Thanks for the kind comments. I agree with Donald and cropping the road didn't seem to work as well as I saw it as a integral part of the composition. To answer Mick, I didn't know ther was a Monaro in S.A.! The Monaro here extends from the tablelands on the Victorian border to the A.C.T. Yes, a GM executive was driving through Cooma and saw the Monaro sign and decided that it would make a good name for their new 2 door Holden- the rest is history. As for the yellow green filter it is one of my favourite lanscape filters because it lifts the values of the leaves on the trees- a orange filter can cause the olive green of eucalypts to go very dark. The yellow bit increases the contast in the blue skies and shadows but not to too great an extent. Apug is a great forum to receive educated critique from fellow photographers, I'm very pleased that I found it.
 
Love the image, I agree that it should not be cropped. The road really adds to the scene. Also the bit about the yellow green filter, was something new to be. Thanks for the great picture and the lesson!
 

Media information

Category
Critique Gallery
Added by
tony lockerbie
Date added
View count
558
Comment count
7
Rating
0.00 star(s) 0 ratings

Image metadata

Filename
field_copy.jpg
File size
121.6 KB
Date taken
Tue, 09 May 2006 8:32 PM
Dimensions
650px x 517px

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