Critique Norway - Lake reflection
- Thread starter Jinkster
- Start date
I can see exactly where you are coming from. I have tried to change the shadow but its struggling.
We flew into Bergen (west coast) and stayed in Voss (2hours east of Bergen) and toured around. The photo above was taken in Granvin between Voss and Kvandal.
Highly recommended. Expensive to eat out (£60 for 2 pizza plus soft drinks) but cheap to eat in (4 x pieces of fresh salmon - £2).
We flew into Bergen (west coast) and stayed in Voss (2hours east of Bergen) and toured around. The photo above was taken in Granvin between Voss and Kvandal.
Highly recommended. Expensive to eat out (£60 for 2 pizza plus soft drinks) but cheap to eat in (4 x pieces of fresh salmon - £2).
- Messages
- 2,480
- Name
- Steve
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Norway Stunning fell in love with the place, IMHO early or late in the year is even better with the Snow and getting great light from late sunrise and early sunset, but that's just me.
I suppose it depends on what your specifically asking? Processing or Shooting
. Its a nice enough shot, a touch dark on the LH side. I have a lot of fjord shots similar (with and without snow) and I have come to the conclusion that although fjords are stunning and beautiful often there is a lack of focal point or a specific point of interest, and it just "Needs Something" other than a great reflection.
I think in your shot I would have trotted round the to the right and picked up some of those Rocks in the foreground, for some foreground interest. I think this is the main improvement adding some foreground interest. Also waiting for the right light. The light is generally always better toward sunrise or sunset and is less harsh.
Regarding processing, is this shot in JPG or RAW? If in RAW you shouldn't have too much problem lifting the shadows. However lift them too much and it will look un-natural.
If in Lightroom just carefully try lifting the shadows but not too much, remember the LH side should have some shadow (or you could pull in a graduated filter diagonally across the LH side and see how it looked with the shadow adjustment). If in Photoshop as Paul says above pull two identical copies of the image in and on one image adjust the image until you are happy with the area in shadow, then create a layer mask and brush over the mask to reveal the layer below effectively your blending the 2 images together, with the net result of giving you some selective adjustment to one area of the image (The LH side) without effecting the original RH side.
Remember Photography is subjective and everyone has a different take on a Photograph! This is just my 2d, hope it helps a little
I suppose it depends on what your specifically asking? Processing or Shooting
. Its a nice enough shot, a touch dark on the LH side. I have a lot of fjord shots similar (with and without snow) and I have come to the conclusion that although fjords are stunning and beautiful often there is a lack of focal point or a specific point of interest, and it just "Needs Something" other than a great reflection. I think in your shot I would have trotted round the to the right and picked up some of those Rocks in the foreground, for some foreground interest. I think this is the main improvement adding some foreground interest. Also waiting for the right light. The light is generally always better toward sunrise or sunset and is less harsh.
Regarding processing, is this shot in JPG or RAW? If in RAW you shouldn't have too much problem lifting the shadows. However lift them too much and it will look un-natural.
If in Lightroom just carefully try lifting the shadows but not too much, remember the LH side should have some shadow (or you could pull in a graduated filter diagonally across the LH side and see how it looked with the shadow adjustment). If in Photoshop as Paul says above pull two identical copies of the image in and on one image adjust the image until you are happy with the area in shadow, then create a layer mask and brush over the mask to reveal the layer below effectively your blending the 2 images together, with the net result of giving you some selective adjustment to one area of the image (The LH side) without effecting the original RH side.
Remember Photography is subjective and everyone has a different take on a Photograph! This is just my 2d, hope it helps a little
- Messages
- 1,386
- Edit My Images
- No
To improve you might want to try visiting on say a misty morning with the sun hitting the hut if possible. Snow or ice would help too. It's about finding the optimum conditions and working around those, sunny weather is nice to be out in but isn't generally good for landscape photography. With regards to this picture, the left hand side is pretty much redundant here, the hut is getting all the light and the sky is better to the right of the image. A square crop could help, however I don't like the distracting foliage in the bottom right corner. You needed to get past that.
- Messages
- 2,480
- Name
- Steve
- Edit My Images
- Yes
You have done well Jinkster, so don't worry about it.
For the most part Landscape's is mostly about the "Right" light and the "Location". Add a bit of attractive composition, and follow the golden rules of photography and it will all work out! Not every lovely looking scene makes a good photograph remember. It can be pretty tough at times trying to get that light and location together, as the time when these coincide is generally inhospitable, and a fair bit of planning and miles can be covered before even reaching for the camera, even then, often you get to your location and the camera doesn't even come out of the bag! I don't want to put you off because when it does all come together the results can be stunning! Anyhow TP is a great place to learn and there are some terrific photographers here (Wish I could say I was one). Another great site if you haven't already found it is cambridgeincolour.com. (another little tip is to study the pictures here and the critique I learnt a lot through looking at other Togs photographs).
Don't decry the Compact Camera, the standard produced by these can be just as stunning as a DSLR, its the person pushing the buttons that makes the difference. Your just on the start of a learning curve so just take photos and enjoy.... Every shot you take you'll learn something!
With your shot there will often be this issue because of the dynamic range that the camera (any Camera) can handle they are not as good as our eyes at managing from the very dark areas to the very bright areas and still maintaining detail, that's why we have to fool the camera by either using graduated filters or correcting it somehow in PP.
I use Lightroom for processing 95% of my shots and flip to P/shop if there is any fancy stuff to be done. With your shot here if you want to lift up the bottom LH shadows. click on Grad filter in Development module start in the top LH corner and pull down the grad diagonally so that the graduation line sits across the dark reflection in the bottom LH corner and runs approximately up the RH mountainside to the top RH corner ....ish! Leave every slider in neutral position and adjust the shadow slider and check the effect. The little box (Switch) in the bottom LH corner of the panel toggles the filter adjustment on and off.
I hope you don't think im trying to teach you to suck eggs just trying to be helpful
For the most part Landscape's is mostly about the "Right" light and the "Location". Add a bit of attractive composition, and follow the golden rules of photography and it will all work out! Not every lovely looking scene makes a good photograph remember. It can be pretty tough at times trying to get that light and location together, as the time when these coincide is generally inhospitable, and a fair bit of planning and miles can be covered before even reaching for the camera, even then, often you get to your location and the camera doesn't even come out of the bag! I don't want to put you off because when it does all come together the results can be stunning! Anyhow TP is a great place to learn and there are some terrific photographers here (Wish I could say I was one). Another great site if you haven't already found it is cambridgeincolour.com. (another little tip is to study the pictures here and the critique I learnt a lot through looking at other Togs photographs).
Don't decry the Compact Camera, the standard produced by these can be just as stunning as a DSLR, its the person pushing the buttons that makes the difference. Your just on the start of a learning curve so just take photos and enjoy.... Every shot you take you'll learn something!
With your shot there will often be this issue because of the dynamic range that the camera (any Camera) can handle they are not as good as our eyes at managing from the very dark areas to the very bright areas and still maintaining detail, that's why we have to fool the camera by either using graduated filters or correcting it somehow in PP.
I use Lightroom for processing 95% of my shots and flip to P/shop if there is any fancy stuff to be done. With your shot here if you want to lift up the bottom LH shadows. click on Grad filter in Development module start in the top LH corner and pull down the grad diagonally so that the graduation line sits across the dark reflection in the bottom LH corner and runs approximately up the RH mountainside to the top RH corner ....ish! Leave every slider in neutral position and adjust the shadow slider and check the effect. The little box (Switch) in the bottom LH corner of the panel toggles the filter adjustment on and off.
I hope you don't think im trying to teach you to suck eggs just trying to be helpful
- Messages
- 2,905
- Name
- Stu
- Edit My Images
- No
I like the reflections, and the vibrant colours. I would suggest a letterbox crop (16:9 or 2:1) to remove that little bit of foreground bottom right and a lift of the shadows on the left - but not too much so you still get the dappled light effect on the trees etc.
- Messages
- 13,051
- Name
- Alf
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Well I think you have gone a little too far for my tatse and as you have ticked yes here is an edit from me. I did this in photoshop but it could be done in lightroom using the adjustment brush to select the area in shadows on the right
Not my shot 11 2015- by Alf Branch, on Flickr
You may find a better tutorial than this
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUPutH5Pyi0
Not my shot 11 2015- by Alf Branch, on FlickrYou may find a better tutorial than this
- Messages
- 18,182
- Name
- Geof
- Edit My Images
- Yes
rather bluish and the little house in the prairie should have featured moreI took this photo last week in Norway on holiday with my Leica compact. What do you think? Where can I improve?
then you would have gotten a less centralised albeit unbalance shot
i spent a week there and i can say the photography subjects are enormous and plentiful
cheers
geof