Why I Like This Photo – Yukon

This is a really complicated landscape, but it the same time it has a strange organization to it. The image has some of my favorite subjects in it -reflections, seeing through water, mountains, clouds and the color blue all over it

How did this picture come about?

I went to the Yukon in Canada for the North American Orienteering Championships in 2018. This was about 1 hour out of Whitehorse.

What is the picture saying to the viewer?

Come and explore, take in the majesty of the landscape from shallow water in the foreground to the mountains in the background.

What makes this picture work?

1. The layers of subject matter all though the depth of field.
2. Repetitions of blues and brown-green plant life.
3. Angle of the grass in the foreground bringing your eye in the beginning
4. The lighter mountain catching the eye

The most important design elements of the picture- how is it used?

1. Repetition- the repetition of the horizontal blocks of colors

Which rule of composition is most prominent? 

Repetition

How does image break the rules? 

The lightness of the foreground in theory should be an obstacle for the viewers eye lead them into the picture, but the lighter, brighter color of leaves facing inward helps to break that rule

How does it use these tradition rules of composition?

How does your eye move around the image?

My eye comes in on the grass in the right foreground. Going to the grass in the middle of the lake. Light mountain reflection then actual mountain. Leaving of the white wisps of clouds. Your eye could actually do the exact reverse. Wonder if the traditional reading from left to right top to bottom would come in play here.

Black and white or color?

The color is what makes the repetition stand out. And the color of top left clouds and green grass on the bottom right making it asymmetric

What keeps the shot from being boring? 

There is some asymmetrical balance to keep it from being too symmetrical. The clouds top right and the green grass bottom left

What keeps it from being too busy

Repetition of color