Critique A few of my recent landscapes.

nickjohnwatson

nickjohnwatson

Messages
3,307
Name
Nick
Edit My Images
Yes
I've not posted any shots for a little while but i've been out a fair bit recently so have a hive of new photos. I'll put a few of my favourites here, let me know what you think! :)

I appreciate there's a few so and C&C is welcomed :)

Thanks folks

Nick

1 - Bamburgh Sunrise

This was taken on Saturday morning just gone, the forecast wasn't great but i'd already decided that I was going to go out regardless. Luckily it paid off as the sunrise was really pretty.

Canon 6D & 17-40L
Lee 0.6 hard & 0.9 soft grads
0.3 seconds / f5.6 / 17mm / iso400



2 - The old man of Storr reflected in Loch Fada.

This was taken on our October Skye workshop, easily the best reflections i've ever seen there, they were literally perfect. The golden light was absolutely sublime too.

Canon 6D & 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II
1/30th / f11 / 80mm / iso100



3 - Isleornsay - Skye

This was taken in in October this year, at the end of another decent day on Skye. The late afternoon sun coupled with a stormy sky in the distance created a wonderful atmosphere and when this rainbow appeared it was the icing on the cake.

Canon 6D & 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II
Lee 0.6 hard grad
1/250th / f8 / 200mm / iso320



4 - Llyn Ogwen - Snowdonia National Park.

Taken on a scouting trip for a new workshop for 2017. A very overcast morning with a tiny bit of light created by the rising sun. I had to rush to find a composition as we hand't expected the sun to make an appearance. I ended up stood knee deep in this freezing stream for this shot, and had to go buy some new socks afterwards lol.

Canon 6D & 17-40L
Lee 0.9 soft grad
2 seconds / f11 / 22mm / iso200



5 - Llanddwyn Lighthouse - Angelsey.

Taken on the same trip as the Llyn Ogwen shot above, this was the night before. A very mild evening and nice conditions for my first trip down :)

Canon 6D & 17-40L
Lee 0.9 soft grad
1.6 seconds / f16 / 30mm / iso100



6 - Breakthrough light on the Quiraing

I missed the best light here as i was in the middle of changing lenses. It had been cloudy and this light broke for maybe 20 seconds. I fumbled to get my lens back on and fired off a shot, no time for filters so it's a little overexposed in the sky but i still think it looks alright :)

Canon 6D & 17-40L
1/80th / f10 / 23mm / iso200



7 - Allt Dearg Mor - Sligachan, Skye

Sunrise in the back garden of the cottage used as our base for the Skye workshops. The light was gorgeous, it did't last too long and we were back in the house by 9am for a cooked breakfast but it was definitely a good morning.

Canon 6D & 17-40L
Lee 0.9 soft grad
1 second / f16 / 17mm / iso100



8 - Neist Point Lighthouse, Skye

This was the first time I'd been down to the lighthouse, usually I stay up at the top but this time I decided to go down, I'm glad I did as the sky was a lot nicer looking inland than out to sea. It was a rather subdued sunset but the high cloud caught the colour nicely.

Canon 6D & 17-40L
Lee 0.9 soft grad
30 seconds / f13 / 17mm / iso100

 
9 - Buachaille Etive Beag, Glencoe.

This was taken on a 4 day glencoe workshop in November, we'd planned to come home on this morning but the snow was amazing and the guys asked to stay another day. I'm glad we did as the conditions were spectacular.

Canon 6D & 17-40L
Lee 0.9 soft grad
1/100th / f16 / 17mm / iso250

 
2.3. and 9 for me. When I first looked at #2, I had not noticed the two boats and had to look twice to work out where the land stopped and the water started!!! Great pictures.
 
Great set of pics,Im refitting the kitchen in that cottage January and have seen that view many many times of Scur Nan Gillian and its neighbours.
 
These are simply awesome. 2+3 stand out for me and I have a partiality to the last one as it is a shot I want but don't have, yet. ;)
 
Superb set of landscapes you certainly get around (y)
 
Fantastic set of images. Not much to critique there. Only thing I might have done would have been to take a step slightly to the left in image 9 to get the etive reflection fitted perfectly within recess in the foreground but that's knit picking :D
 
I was amused that you tagged the thread "critique" Nick :).
I have to say lovely work Nick and we all know the amount of time that goes into producing images such as these. Its a pleasure you view them.
Its difficult to select favorites, No2 obviously stands out, with such a stunning reflection.
No1 I like the leading lines in this clouds, waves all lead you toward the castle great light.
No3 something really compelling about this shot, I keep coming back to it, love the composition.
No4 worth getting wet for, Really like the light in this, and the light off the central rock in the foreground. (ps you mean you don't carry a spare dry pair of socks? Maybe I just fall in too much ;)).
No5 light isnt as spectacular as the others but none the less a lovely shot.
No6 great soft feel to the light here that gives a great feel to the landscape and softens the greens beautifully.
No7 Great light and nice shutter speed.
No8 Really nice long exposure, i love the clouds here and the LE effect really has a great effect to pull the eye into the focus point, Cracker!
No9 This is another compelling shot. Snow makes such a difference, This is probably one of my picks. As Rich said a little to the left and you would have lined up the peak with that inlet, but splitting hairs here.
Exceptional set, thanks for the pleasure(y)
 
Nothing to really critique but you did ask so I will offer the odd, tiny critique. If you hadn't of asked I would just put; 'Great set'. Which it is!

1. Lovely scene. You could reduce the blue saturation in the 'white' bits of the breaking waves in the foreground slightly.

2. Just perfect*. One of the best shots posted on here. (*You could clone out the line in the reflection that runs just above your watermark, the bit of stick beneath it and the road sign to the right of the tree if you wished.)

3. Also stunning, you have to look at it for longer to really appreciate it. Ideally some of that light would have hit the lighthouse too, which feels slightly dark in comparison to the rest of the scene but I appreciate that is probably accurate. The red channel is blown in the clouds but I expect that is down to sRGB more than anything else. I worry about it in my edits for print but don't bother about it once reduced to sRGB and displayed on web so you will see this in my images. Not a critique just an observation.

4. Great light and I like the arrangement. First instinct was to say clone the tree out on the horizon but looking at it for longer I wouldn't. It mirrors the shape of the grass in the bottom left and points towards the sunset.

5. Sorry, the weakest of the set by a country mile. It has a real green/blue cast, suffers from over gradation and the light does not help. Nice composition but not up to the standard of the others.

6. Also nice, an atmospheric shot and for that reason I can forgive the blown highlights. I would expect them to be that time of day.

7. Awesome, don't tell him but better than @Steelo 's. Only joking, but like his, it is a quality shot. What a mornings work!

8. Is a good shot too, reading your description you obviously adapted to the conditions which is good. (Something I fail to do at times out of stubbornness!) Processing wise I think there is more to be had there, If you selectively edit the land, not the sky, you could push the brightness and contrast of the lighthouse to give ti more pop and make it the subject more rather than the sky.

9. Also love this. Bang on composition and really nicely processed. Personally I may have tried to balance the sky and the reflection a tad more, meaning the reflection would be closer in luminance to the sky and not as dark. Not by a lot though.

Great photography, clearly a real reason why you are able to I presume lead these workshops. Any other tips on how to do that for a living and I'm all ears! Above points are nit picking, but you asked. I appreciate critique so much more than 'great shot m8' comments so it is only right to try and offer it. As always, it is your choice to take it or leave it...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top