"We're on the road to nowhere..." C&C Welcome

[flashback]

This is an area that used to be my stomping grounds when I was kid. I was out with the dog today and we ended up on this dirt road. I kind of like the way the road goes from shadows to bright and sunny. Since (as has been pointed out to me before) hot spots such as the dirt road draws the eye, in this case, does it draw the eye INTO the image?

[Shadowman]

It does and so do the leading lines. I think once you get to the background, the lines leading away from the horizon take you back towards the left side tree which brings your eyes across the top and back down the right side, taking you back mid center of the foreground. Nice image.

[Donald]

Since (as has been pointed out to me before) hot spots such as the dirt road draws the eye, in this case, does it draw the eye INTO the image?

Yes it does. The road provides an excellent line that takes you back into the image.

On this one, the transition from shadow on the road to full sunlight is maybe a bit sudden and stark. It's a very strong line that effectively cuts across the road. But different folks will have differing views about that.

A technique that I've worked on over the past couple of years or so is, when you have a roadway, rail track, etc like this, is not to stand in the middle and go for the equilibrium/balance of the edges of the road. Instead, stand off-centre or even right at one edge, so that you get a strong line running vertically in the image and others converging into it. It's just another approach. This is what I mean.

But, yes, I do like this image.

[IzzieK]

Yes Jack...I like the way you did this one. It sort of makes me wonder what is at the end of that road...does it go further? what is there to explore...many questions in my mind. The end in this shot brought my eyes back to the rest of the shot wanting to know more...Very nice, Jack...

[John 2]

Nice shot Jack. A very effective composition. It works well particularly with the road curving around to the right at the end. Prevents it coming to a dead stop.

[Gigi71]

Really well done, a nice angle, making me curious what might be there out of sight. And I particularly like the attitude to have memories of your childhood, I bet a lot of stories come to your mind thinking back to that.

[FootLoose]

The strong shadow concerns me too, Jack. I wonder if you could apply a selective gradient, or something similar, to ease the transition. Although ... that might look a little odd as there is nothing on the left to cast a shadow on the road.

[AB26]

Hi Jack,

My 2c worth of advice: An image with a road leading you into the scene is almost always better when you have the road leading into one of the “rule of thirds” areas.

I this instance it would be better if the road leads more to left of the image. That slight bend to the right will lead the eye into infinity into the frame to the right. The overhead branches form a very nice frame for the road. You need not have the road “over exposed” to have the eye led to the brighter area. The direct sun on the road will cause enough brightness to have the eye drawn to it. A tad more detail in the bright area would be nice.

I did a slight bit of an edit to show you what I mean. Hope you don’t mind. If you think it is worse than the original, please say so.

[Mike Buckley]

Yes! The original works for me on all counts. I think it is the combination of the brighter area of the sky and the brighter area of the road nearly converging that draws our eye into the distant part of the image.

The reason the shadows don't bother me is that they're a little soft, surprisingly so considering that the part of the sky in the image has no clouds. There were probably some clouds diffusing the sun and creating the somewhat soft shadows.

I also think your conversion is superb.

For an unusual and perhaps interesting composition, try cropping some off the bottom to create more of a panoramic format.

[Gigi71]

I like the original more. I don't know much about too much brightness, to me somehow the brighter light makes more depth. And I like the left part appearing the trunks and more of the branches, building a bit of a frame like the end of a tunnel. Just my two cents
Don't take it amiss, Andre, maybe I am just not following some rules?

[flashback]

John, thank you. I drove about halfway down that road before I stopped, turned around and went back. My subconscious was aware of it before I was.

Donald, thank you. High praise coming from the B&W master. I did check out your image and I do see what you mean. Lucky for me the scene is a close enough drive, and the weather is the same today so I may go and do a re-shoot.

Izzie, thank you. Actually I have an image I will post in another thread that shows what's at the end of this road.

John 2, thank you. Funny how things work; the road, where it disappears actually continues on straight, but dips down out of view. Where it looks like it begins to go right, it's actually a cut into the bank, a bit of a pull off to park.

Gigi, thank you. It was my considerably younger and wilder days and I'll leave it at that :-)

Greg, thank you. There was not a cloud in the sky and so the transition is indeed pretty harsh. I tried to selectively tone down the bright road but it didn't look right. I may fool with it again though, as I see that Andre did pull a bit more detail out of the bright road.

Andre, thank you. I like that you got more detail out of the road. I didn't actually brighten the road, it was that bright and stark. As I pointed out to Greg I did try to tone it down and will try it again. I did fool with some various crops, in your example I see what you mean, but that dark tree trunk in the upper left hand corner I think might be a bit of a distraction.
I have absolutely NO problem with what you did with my image and I appreciate you taking your time to show me your suggestions.

Mike, thank you. Interestingly there wasn't a cloud in the sky so I can't explain the soft shadow other than, it is what it is.
In retrospect I think that cropping some off the bottom may indeed be the way to go.

Thank you all for such great comments and suggestions; it tells me I'm on the right path (pun intended.) I may actually re-shoot it today, there are some clouds so the lighting will be less harsh. I will likewise experiment with some different angles and viewpoints. I may just throw the dog in the truck, get a cup of coffee and have it now.

[NorthernFocus]

Most useful comments have already been made. Plus I'm not so good with landscape nor B/W in the base case so can't offer much other than the perspective of a random viewer. Maybe it's just my current state of mind but with the leafless trees, shadows at bottom of frame, and rendered in B/W, this has a bit of the LOTR road to Mordor look to it.

[Wavelength]

An excellent image!!!

[flashback]

Thanks Dan. Of course one now has to wonder what your current state of mind is. Should we be concerned? ;-)

[flashback]

Thanks Nanadkumar!

[flashback]

I have done a few tweaks and crops based on all you suggestions. My problem now is, which crop do I prefer.
By cropping the image it seems like I've lost a sense of distance and space. I dunno....

[bnnrcn]

Hi Jack, I personally prefer the uncropped version, very nice image

[flashback]

Thanks Binnur! I'm still leaning in favor of the uncropped version as well.

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks Dan. Of course one now has to wonder what your current state of mind is. Should we be concerned? ;-)

I just came off of a business trip involving over 24 hours total of flying/layover time. I watched one of the hobbit flicks and the first two LOTR films over the course of the trip. So might be inclined to relate that way.

[IzzieK]

I just came off of a business trip involving over 24 hours total of flying/layover time. I watched one of the hobbit flicks and the first two LOTR films over the course of the trip. So might be inclined to relate that way.

Or the feeling of a camera-less trip...