I've decided to give landscaping a go and have invested in some ND Grad filters. I'm a novice at this so any comments/advice are very welcome.
This is an image taken this morning. I could have hoped for a better sky, but I guess you take what you get. Does the composition justify another trip in the hope of improving the sky?
I prefer your repost, but for me the composition doesn't quite work. I find the tree breaking the horizon quite distracting, and the foreground a little confused. Maybe try to simplify the composition a bit. I'm sorry if this sounds a bit negative, but I'm sure you appreciate honest critique!
And I got though that without resorting to the old: "I'm not a landscape man but..." phrase!
Pete, thanks for the honest critique, I can see your point.
I suppose you could classify me as a wanabe landscape man. I believe there is a good image in there somewhere struggling to get out. If only I knew how
Maybe I could simplify the composition by concentrating on the tree, which drew me to this in the first place. Difficult to keep the tree below the horizon though, but I will go back and see what I can do.
Thanks again
David
Posted by John Chapman on February 7, 2007 at 5:47 AM
Hi David
my advice is you need a strong foreground interesting middle ground and a strong background also most importantly strong lighting. Your image has none of them.
Have a look at my Web Page and feel free to criticize my work.
John
The thirds rule palys more importance in general landscape photography than wildlife, simply because you have the time to compose proir to the subject (the light) turning up.
If it is 3x2 I would say that you are better to have a foreground interesting leading the eye into the frame to a focal point. I have found that the simplier the composition the more likely I am not to mess it up.
Now I ain't a landscape photographer with 3x2, and since 3x1 has some different 'rules', the above needs to be taken with that in mind.
There is a Scot on the main forum called Ian Cameron who is very very good in my humble opinion. Have a look at his images - Jurrasic view is a stunner.
I like your website. I think your excellent scottish landscapes certainly demonstrate the point you made. Beautiful.
Tom
Thanks for the advice, and I particularly like your point about light being the subject. Something I will remember. I agree with you Ian Cameron's images are very very good.
I want to produce better images and honest critique works for me.
Been thinking about this David and a book I found very inspirational is Galen Rowell's 'Mountain Light'. Although a lot of his photos were taken in the mountains, the points he makes are valid for any landscape photographer. I think it might be out of print now, but some of his articles can be found at http://www.mountainlight.com/articles.html. Worth a look anyway!
Discussion
8 repliesThis is an image taken this morning. I could have hoped for a better sky, but I guess you take what you get. Does the composition justify another trip in the hope of improving the sky?
Canon 20D, 17-40L @ 40mm, 0.25sec,f16,iso 100, tripod, 0.9 NDG, MLU, ACR, CS2, PK Sharpner
Regards
David
Regards
David
I prefer your repost, but for me the composition doesn't quite work. I find the tree breaking the horizon quite distracting, and the foreground a little confused. Maybe try to simplify the composition a bit. I'm sorry if this sounds a bit negative, but I'm sure you appreciate honest critique!
And I got though that without resorting to the old: "I'm not a landscape man but..." phrase!
I suppose you could classify me as a wanabe landscape man. I believe there is a good image in there somewhere struggling to get out. If only I knew how
Maybe I could simplify the composition by concentrating on the tree, which drew me to this in the first place. Difficult to keep the tree below the horizon though, but I will go back and see what I can do.
Thanks again
David
my advice is you need a strong foreground interesting middle ground and a strong background also most importantly strong lighting. Your image has none of them.
Have a look at my Web Page and feel free to criticize my work.
John
The thirds rule palys more importance in general landscape photography than wildlife, simply because you have the time to compose proir to the subject (the light) turning up.
If it is 3x2 I would say that you are better to have a foreground interesting leading the eye into the frame to a focal point. I have found that the simplier the composition the more likely I am not to mess it up.
Now I ain't a landscape photographer with 3x2, and since 3x1 has some different 'rules', the above needs to be taken with that in mind.
There is a Scot on the main forum called Ian Cameron who is very very good in my humble opinion. Have a look at his images - Jurrasic view is a stunner.
I like your website. I think your excellent scottish landscapes certainly demonstrate the point you made. Beautiful.
Tom
Thanks for the advice, and I particularly like your point about light being the subject. Something I will remember. I agree with you Ian Cameron's images are very very good.
I want to produce better images and honest critique works for me.
Regards
David
I see Amazon have some copies of Galen's book via their resellers. I'll put it on my list of purchases.
Regards
David