Magnetic Termite Mounds

[John Cooper]

These magnetic termite mounds were photographed in the Litchfield NP, Nothern Territory, Australia. I made sure I was in the field just before sunrise but spent ages walking around looking for a reasonable composition. (Immagine walking through a graveyard trying to make a composition out of the tombstones);)
I finally settled on this composition as the hill made for a good back-drop.

Canon EOS 3, Canon 17-40mm lens, Velvia 50, Early morning light, F22, Tripod.

[Lana Hays]

John
I really don't do landscapes so I'm not good with the technicals. However, I really like this one.....and interesting scene that does remind me of tombstones. I remember seen the termite mounds many years ago when I was in Australia but don't remember anything as unusual as this one. I really enjoyed Australia and this was a wonderful renewal of the memories.

[David Kennedy]

John,
I've been chewing on this one for a few hours now and I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about this image. The foreground anchor, the nearest termite mound, is certainly in good light and sharp focus, but I think that its position in the frame actually prevents the composition from" working." The way that the shadows stream from the right, it feels like anything that "interrupts" a shadow so prominently should be the left "end point" of the image. Having the termite mound on the right, juxtaposed with the way the lighting is playing out in the background, makes the composition feel awkward. I hope that this makes some sense and that you might be able to apply this kind of thinking to future images. Cheers,
David

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi John,
I'm liking this one too. I like the dark areas as it makes an interesting interplay of colors. My only recommendation is to get rid of the mound that is touching the large FG one in the upper left.
Roman

[John Cooper]

John,
I've been chewing on this one for a few hours now and I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about this image. The foreground anchor, the nearest termite mound, is certainly in good light and sharp focus, but I think that its position in the frame actually prevents the composition from" working." The way that the shadows stream from the right, it feels like anything that "interrupts" a shadow so prominently should be the left "end point" of the image. Having the termite mound on the right, juxtaposed with the way the lighting is playing out in the background, makes the composition feel awkward. I hope that this makes some sense and that you might be able to apply this kind of thinking to future images. Cheers,
David

Thanks David, and yes I see where you're coming from - good suggestion and makes sense to me. My main concern with the composition was that the foreground anchor was too distant from the BG mounds.

[Robert Amoruso]

I understand what David is talking about and agree. I too felt that the placement of the FG mound was ackward and would be better on the left.

I like the light and colors of the image but is does appear to be a subject that would be hard to make sense of.

[David Steele]

John, first impressions for me were really good: a great photo of a beautiful place. I always admire David's and Robert's comments but don't necessarily completely agree with them this time (but, then, even David himself wasn't too sure!). I love the light, colour and composition and appreciate the difficulties you experienced in finding the right angle to shoot from (a bit like The Pinnacles in WA). My only possible concern is that the shadow in the bottom left-corner may be a bit too heavy. On the other hand, it does provide some balance for the main termite mound.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi John One interesting image Have been thinking for a while and difficult to come up with solid suggestions

Something that might work is changing the focal length? Would like to render the large foreground mound smaller? Maybe going further back with longer focal length Also a higher angle from same perspective will keep the mound from under the tree line and give a better look at the shadows from other mounds !!!

[Simon Bennett]

I really like this image John as it portrays elements typical of the 'Top End' of Australia: magnetic termite mounds, fire scars, grass and and woodlands. I want to get back up there!