Winter landscapes C&C

ginger nz

Went on a field trip with the Christchurch Photographic Society today. I learned so much in such a short amount of time, my mind is still fizzing.

Here are a couple of the shots that I have uploaded unprocessed. I'm looking for some ideas on how to improve them in Photoshop. Comments on Composition also welcome





I'm aware of the big durty thumbprint in the second. I'm working on it at the moment.

Thanks,
D

Ricky91t

Top class shots there!

mike65

Any links to the full size pix? Landscapes need scale.

Mike.

ginger nz

mike65 wrote: »

Any links to the full size pix? Landscapes need scale.

Mike.

Sorry Mike, I uploaded them to Flickr in the suggested format. I'll try and find someplace to host a 4MB file (imageshack says NO). Suggestions welcome

EDIT: This should be a larger image.

mike65

In flickr if you click the preview you will see the "all sizes" link select a big one, you can just paste the url like so

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike65ie/2600007679/sizes/o/in/photostream/

Mike.

magicbastarder

were you using a wide angle and a polariser?

ginger nz

magicbastarder wrote: »

were you using a wide angle and a polariser?

For the first one, the second was a C Pol and I had a grad filter held in front (I think it was a grey grad)

Is that the reason for the uneven sky tones towards the borders?

Ricky91t

20mm on the exif

mike65

Pity about that scrubby tree (did you even spot it at ther time? I've often got the pix back and though "wtf? where did that come frrom!") as its scrawny and the same colour as the background it looks untidy rather than being a feature.

The second shot needs tilting a degree so stop the water draining off the right edge.

Mike.

ginger nz

mike65 wrote: »

Pity about that scrubby tree (did you even spot it at ther time? I've often got the pix back and though "wtf? where did that come frrom!") as its scrawny and the same colour as the background it looks untidy rather than being a feature.

Mike.

Urm, I think it's fair to say I noticed it. I thought it was an interesting shape and kinda cold looking. I was hoping for more contrast between it and the hills on the other side of the lake though.

Balfey1972

nice photos - well done

AnCatDubh

I would suggest horizon straightening on both - #1 slightly and #2 a bit more.

I would think too that there is slightly too much sky in both which might be cropped just a little.

Love the reflections in #2 and the vastness of #1.

How wide did you shoot? The perspective looks somewhat on the extreme side of things - i'm just curious is this as a result of shooting real wide or did the vista actually have that perspective/vastness from foreground to background (hard to explain - i hope i've done it ok ;o) If at 20mm as the exif suggests and if you find this a little non natural then you might consider a longer focal length (counter intuitive i know to what you hope to achieve with a landscape but sometimes you need to sacrifice the bredth of the vista to maintain perspective).

I thought the polarizer filter effect towards the edge was a nice vignette effect - personally i'd keep something along those lines.

HTH. Cheers.

ginger nz

AnCatDubh wrote: »

How wide did you shoot? The perspective looks somewhat on the extreme side of things - i'm just curious is this as a result of shooting real wide or did the vista actually have that perspective/vastness from foreground to background (hard to explain - i hope i've done it ok ;o) If at 20mm as the exif suggests and if you find this a little non natural then you might consider a longer focal length (counter intuitive i know to what you hope to achieve with a landscape but sometimes you need to sacrifice the bredth of the vista to maintain perspective).

I thought the polarizer filter effect towards the edge was a nice vignette effect - personally i'd keep something along those lines.

HTH. Cheers.

Hi AnCatDubh,

Will have a look at the horizons

I don't think there's an easy answer to your question. I guess I was shooting wide wide (18mm on the D80 18-135kit lens (f16ish))but the scenes were REALLY vast. In both cases there was loads of foreground between where I was shooting and the hills. I had to keep the angle of view wide so I could get some foreground in to bridge the gap between the camera and the subjects. I'll keep in mind that it might be better to narrow the shot.

JMcL

I like both of these. As AnCatDubh said, both need rotation, #1 clockwise, and #2 anticlockwise - aim to get the lake shore horizontal.

After that, I'd suggest cropping both to a panoramic format, as I the format would suit both, I'd say a 612 format (ie the width is double the height - using the marquee tool in PS, you can set a crop ratio). For the first one, I'd lose a bit of the foreground (maybe half the foreground grass), and some sky. for #2 I'd suggest positioning the crop at the bottom of the frame as the sky's fairly featureless, and the stony foreshore is very nice. The reflections are really good.

Other than that I'd brighten up the foreground and mountains of #1 a bit using a curves adjustment layer. Create a mask to exclude the sky.

magicbastarder

ginger nz wrote: »

Is that the reason for the uneven sky tones towards the borders?

yeah, since so much sky is in frame, you get a varying effect from the polariser.

CabanSail

ginger nz wrote: »

Is that the reason for the uneven sky tones towards the borders?

It's the Polariser that gives that uneven effect. It is to do with the angle of the light. I did hear a very good Landscape Photographer explaining it recently but I cannot recall all the physics at the moment. In some conditions it's more evident than others & becomes an increasing issue the wider you go.

In both images the Horizon is a bit central.

#1 I would crop along the lower frame & remove some of the grass, which would draw more attention to that spectacular sky. It's a pity the tree does not have more contrast with the background as it could be a nice element.

#2 I would crop the sky to enhance the reflection & stop the uneven sky from drawing attention. The stones in the foreground work well.

As said before, both images need the horizon to be straightened. The cropping would make them into nice panorama shots.

mike65

For an even tone the camera needs to be pointing 90 degrees relative to the sun, ie sun directly to the left/right of what you are photographing.

Mike.

CabanSail

That sounds right Mike.

The question is it easier to move the Sun or the Mountains?

Fenster

I'd say something about Hobbits, but you'd smack me. You have some really beautiful shot there.

ginger nz

Comment away Fenster, It's a little bit different from the flat lands of north east Galway, that's for sure!

Thanks for all your comments guys, this has been a great learning experience.