Brock Valley

[GateKiller]

Hi,

Still new here but looking to improve my skills and so I'm looking for everyone to suggest way in which I can improve my photos.

Today I went for a walk to a place called Brock Valley in the Forrest of Bowland and took these photo's with my D40 and 55-200. The photo below has not been adjusted/edited yet.

Thanks inadvance for the C&C :)

Cheers
Stephen

1/5s, f/22, 55mm
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2020/2429414720_7f994ba54d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gatekiller/2429414720/)

[BRASH]

Think for In Depth Critique, you are only supposed to post one pic mate.

[GateKiller]

Think for In Depth Critique, you are only supposed to post one pic mate.

As you can see, still learning how this site works ;)

Have now selected one photo I would like C&C for...

Cheers
Stephen

[Theo Moore]

Don't take this the wrong way, it's simply an honest question meant for you to answer.

As the photographer taking this picture, you have a purpose for sharing this picture with others. For this particular picture, what is that purpose? Or put it another way: When we look at your picture, what is it, exactly, do you want US to see? Do you want us to see the stump? The stream? The trees? Why? Where should our eyes focus?

Can you answer that?

[GateKiller]

Don't take this the wrong way, it's simply an honest question meant for you to answer.

As the photographer taking this picture, you have a purpose for sharing this picture with others. For this particular picture, what is that purpose? Or put it another way: When we look at your picture, what is it, exactly, do you want US to see? Do you want us to see the stump? The stream? The trees? Why? Where should our eyes focus?

Can you answer that?

I guess I can't answer that and thus the reason I'm looking for InDepth Critique to help improve my skills.

I think I would want you to focus on the stump and perhaps should have used my 50mm f/1.8 to focus solely on the stump instead of a small aperture of f/22.

Do you think this would have improved the shot?

Thanks for the feedback :)
Stephen

[Steep]

I don't know if you were consciously using the rule of thirds but you've managed it quite well which is good. The image itself is pretty dull and flat, some adjustment of levels in your photo editing software will brighten it up quite a bit though, perhaps also increase the colour saturation a tiny bit at the same time.
The picture needs something of interest in it too but you can only get that by trying again, photographs nearly always look better if there's something to catch the eye.

I don't know what your pc skill level is so if there are any terms up there you don't know, just ask.

[RobertP]

First things first... No problem with having a picture in your Signature file but it must be within the sizes allowed by the rules... and yours is too high (100 pixels max). resize it please.

As mentioned already the picture lacks a subject. f22 is OK for landscape as it will give you the best depth of field. The post is not a strong (interesting) subject but you might have got away with it if that was positioned on a foreground third. Rule of thirds link (http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=24859).

[GateKiller]

I don't know if you were consciously using the rule of thirds but you've managed it quite well which is good. The image itself is pretty dull and flat, some adjustment of levels in your photo editing software will brighten it up quite a bit though, perhaps also increase the colour saturation a tiny bit at the same time.
The picture needs something of interest in it too but you can only get that by trying again, photographs nearly always look better if there's something to catch the eye.

I don't know what your pc skill level is so if there are any terms up there you don't know, just ask.

I'm going to have a read of what the "Rule of Thirds" is with the link provided by Robert so as I'm non the wiser at the moment :shrug:.

Yeah, the picture defo need some colour and when I get onto my laptop I'll open up Lightroom and add that all important... something!

First things first... No problem with having a picture in your Signature file but it must be within the sizes allowed by the rules... and yours is too high (100 pixels max). resize it please.

As mentioned already the picture lacks a subject. f22 is OK for landscape as it will give you the best depth of field. The post is not a strong (interesting) subject but you might have got away with it if that was positioned on a foreground third. Rule of thirds link (http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=24859).

I'll try and get onto my server asap to resize that image for you :) Trying to remember lots of forum rules is difficult.

Thanks for the link to the "Rule of Thirds", shall take a read soon and hopefully, next time I'm out and about, I can put the rule to good use.


Thank you both for you feedback, I'll post up a revised photo later this evening or tomorrow.

Cheers
Stephen

[Anima Templi]

Sorry to throw a spanner in but looking at the image it is perhaps an occasion where a larger aperture would have worked well.

One of the issues is that there are many elements to the shot all competing for our attention. Had a more shallow depth of field been employed it would have helped focus (excuse the pun) our attention on the post, by throwing the stones out of focus. So yes the 50m f1.8 would have done a better job imo.

A slightly lower viewpoint would also have set the stump in front of the stones more thereby increasing contrast around the stump as it is similar in tone to the water.
I would also crop the right as the stone is attracting my attention away from the stump.

Maybe as the image is very monochromatic anyway a Black and White version may work.

[GateKiller]

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has added critisism and suggestion to help me improve my photograph skills... this is why I joined this website :)

I have darkened the shadowed and tried to mute those rocks. I have also slightly increased the saturation to the entire shot and I have also highly saturated the orange tones. Finally, I've croped the images to get rid of the stone.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/2432454514_49afc779e9.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gatekiller/2432454514/)

Cheers
Stephen